


Perfect

by radicalduuuude



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Adora Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catra Needs A Hug, Catra and Adora run away together, Catra has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (She-Ra), Catradora is CANON, Co-dependent but healthy relationship, Eventual Smut, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Fluff, For like three years, Not Shadow Weaver though, PTSD, Self-Doubt, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Sexual Assault, catra and adora escape, catradora, graphic depictions of self-harm, they hide in the woods for a while
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:34:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 29,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26865997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radicalduuuude/pseuds/radicalduuuude
Summary: Catra was silent. Adora’s tone made Catra’s skin creep.Suddenly, all of it made sense. The fear of loneliness. The flinching. The need for perfection. Adora was being sexually abused by Shadow Weaver.Catra took a few deep breaths. She needed to get Adora out of the Fright Zone. She needed to get Adora away from Shadow Weaver.ORCatra and Adora run away from the Fright Zone when they’re around fourteen or fifteen and live in the woods for three years. They might be a little out of character at times, but that’s because they escape together and have a different past.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 77
Kudos: 469





	1. Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> -TRIGGER WARNING-
> 
> Graphic depictions of self harm and some descriptions of sexual assault in further chapters.

Adora moved the new razor over the wrist, looking for the easiest spot to hide. She dug the corner of it into her skin, the stainless steel was cool. She sliced her skin open. Shit. Shitshitshit. There was blood. Lots of it. It was squirting out. She scrambled to grab the towel she had next to her and tried to apply pressure (like they taught in first aid during her training). But she still felt the blood drop to the floor. Woah, that was even deeper than she thought it was. Adora put her fingers on both sides of the wound and pushed them together, trying to close the cut, obviously with no results. She could barely touch the two sides together. Blood was still spurting out of the wound. She pulled the two sides apart and looked into her skin. Yep, that definitely went way too deep. She couldn’t see very far into the wound because of the pooling blood.

Adora wanted to cry for help. But that would mean everyone would find out about her secret. Shadow Weaver would find out about her secret. Catra would find out about her secret. The thought of Catra’s distraught face when she found out that Adora hadn’t just been constipated while she hid in the bathroom made her reconsider yelling for help. Blood was everywhere. It was beginning to pool underneath her arm. Her eyes filled with tears and she began to sob. She didn’t know what to do. 

She wanted to die, yes, but not without a plan. Not without leaving Catra a note. But she couldn’t let Catra know that she was hurting herself. Adora was starting to feel faint. Blood was still pouring out of her arm. She stood up slowly and tried to stay awake. She wrapped the already blood-soaked towel around her arm and tightened it. 

She grabbed around for something to hide the bloody towel and put her jacket on. She could totally walk to the medical wing by herself. She looked at the pool of blood on the ground and groaned. She didn’t have too much time to clean the ground. She might pass out in the process. Adora almost laughed at the thought of that. She started to walk slowly to the nurses, holding her arm close to her as she tried to make her way. 

“Adora!” 

Adora froze. 

Catra.

“Adora, where have you been?” Catra teased her, poking her in the back as she approached her friend. “Why are you walking to the med wing?” Catra suddenly looked serious. Fuck. She never looks serious. 

“Oh,” Adora’s voice was shaky, “Uh, Kyle got sent down after what happened in training,” that wasn’t a total lie, “and, um, Shadow Weaver sent me to check on him.” That’s the lie.

Catra jumped up onto the pipe nearby and squinted at Adora, “You look pale. Well, paler than usual. Are you sick?” 

“No!” Adora protested, “I’m fine, Cat.”

“Fine, I’m coming with you to the medical wing though,” Catra grumbled, Adora smirked at her friend. Catra hissed, “It’s not because I like you, I just don’t trust that you’re fine.”

Adora chuckled nervously, holding her arm closer to herself, the blood was soaking through the towel, “Don’t you have a meeting with Shadow Weaver?”

“That was an hour ago, ‘Dora.”

How long had Adora been hiding in the bathroom?

“Oh.”

“C’mon, dummy,” Catra grabbed Adora’s free hand and dragged her down the hallway. Adora sighed and followed her friend to the nurse's office. She could probably ask for privacy there... right?


	2. Fighting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s no descriptions of self harm in this chapter! But this is the aftermath, so please me wary reading this!

“You good?” Catra was starting to show her worry. Adora was being slow. Slower than she usually is.

“Hmm?” Adora looked up and smiled shyly at Catra, “Yeah! M’fine, Cat.” She felt so sick, she might faint. She probably would faint. Losing this much blood really can’t be healthy.

Catra growled, she knew Adora was lying.

“Well, who do we have here?”

Catra’s growl deepened as she looked up to see Force Captain Scorpia in front of the med wing. Scorpia enveloped both Adora and Catra in a skull crushing hug, Adora almost cried out in pain as her bad arm was crushed. The adrenaline was wearing off, she was starting to feel her arm ache. Scorpia dropped them both when she heard Adora whimper in pain.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Scorpia leaned down next to Adora, “Did I hurt you?”

Catra hissed at Scorpia to get away.

“Woah okay, Wildcat, I’m leaving,” Scorpia waved and flashed them a huge smile before running off. Catra scrambled down next to Adora.

“You good, dumbass?”

“I’m fine,” Adora grumbled, pushing herself to her feet with a grimace. “I think she just broke every bone in my body.”

“Well, we’re at the med office,” Catra nudged Adora, “Let’s go in.”

“Can... Can you stay out here, Cat?” Adora fiddled with her jacket.

“Why?”

“Just,” Adora breathed out slowly, “Trust me.”

“T-Trust you?” Catra growled, “Trust you with what? If you don’t tell me what the hell is going on...”

“It’s better if you don’t know,” Adora pushed past Catra and walked into the office, the second the door closed and locked behind her, she falls to the floor with an almost silent cry. She hated lying to Catra, especially about personal stuff like this. But if Catra found out, she would ask why Adora was hurting herself. Then Adora would have to tell her about what Shadow Weaver was doing to her.

—————————

There was a loud slam against the door, “Adora!”

Of course, it was Catra. The nurse looked up from her paperwork, “Oh, Force Captain Adora! Are you here to see Kyle?”

“Uh, I got injured,” Adora winced as she stood up, “I, um, fell in the scrapyard and got a laceration on my arm.” Good lie. She didn’t have any scars or fresh cuts, her other cuts were usually only small scratches. She hadn’t had access to any blades for months, until she got ahold of a razor. She didn’t know how sharp it would be and used as much pressure as she usually would.

“How deep?”

“Um, it might be-“ Adora had begun to walk over to the desk but the door bursted open and Shadow Weaver was standing there, Catra looking small next to her. Adora’s heart picked up speed and she stumbled backwards, she composed herself quickly and stood up straight.

“Catra told me you were sick,” Shadow Weaver entered, pitch black hair flowing behind her, “Hmmm... You do look a bit pale.” She rested a cold hand against Adora’s cheek.

“She got a laceration while in the scrapyard,” The nurse stood up and pulled Adora away from Shadow Weaver, “The paleness is probably caused by blood loss.”

Catra’s eyes widened and she exclaimed, “What? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“Why would Adora disclose such information to you? It’s not like someone as worthless as you could help.”

Catra backed off, hissing at her involuntarily.

“Cat, you know that’s not why I didn’t tell you.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

Adora stammered, “I- I.. don’t know.” She did know.

“Exactly,” Catra hissed, and then got down on all four and scampered out of the room. Shadow Weaver turned around and went after her. Leaving Adora and the nurse alone.

“Okay, show me the wound.”

Adora took off her jacket slowly and removed the bloody towel. The nurses eyes widened as blood began to pour out of the wound once again. Adora cried in pain and folded over as the nurse grabbed gauze to put over the wound.

Adora was starting to see dots dancing across her vision, “I- I think I have to... sit down.”

“Of course,” The nurse grabbed the top of her arm. Woah! That was not gentle. Adora winced in pain once again, before falling to the ground.


	3. Night Terror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING
> 
> This chapter taps into Adora’s childhood trauma and sexual assault. Please be wary while reading it.

“Adora!”

Adora’s eyes jolted open and she sits up quickly, her head spins. Fuck, she might puke. Her eyes searched the room, they landed on a garbage can and she scrambled over to it and emptied her stomach contents into it.

“Adora?” The voice was much calmer now, a gentle hand touched her back as she retched and gagged and sobbed over the trash can.

“C-Catra?” Adora looked up, it wasn’t Catra. It was the nurse. Of course, Catra wouldn’t care about her after what happened. How could Adora be so stupid? Adora’s heart dropped and she pushed the hand away.

Her shoulders shook as she cried. She just wanted to see Catra.

“Where’s Catra?” Adora looked up at the nurse looming over her, “I want Catra.”

“You have 28 stitches, including 7 internal stitches.”

Great, the nurse completely disregarded her.

“How fun,” Adora grunted, “I want to see Catra.”

“The cut was very clean for one you just got in the scrapyard.”

Adora’s heart almost stopped.

“Are you sure it’s from the scrapyard?”

Adora turned away, ignoring the question, “I want Catra.”

The nurse sighed, “Okay, I’ll have Shadow Weaver accompany Catra to the med wing.”

Adora’s eyes were as wide as sauce pans, she turned around quickly and shook her head vigorously, “No, no, no, please, only Catra.”

“Adora, it’s after curfew, Catra is not allowed to leave without permission.”

“Please.”

The nurse sighed, “I’ll try to get her here tomorrow, for now you must sleep.”

Adora’s eyes filled with tears, but she followed orders and lay down on the nurses bed. She cried into her hands until she fell asleep.

——————————————

_There was no yelling. There never was. Shadow Weaver told Adora that she needed to be faster, that she was letting Catra distract her, and that she should not waste all she had worked for._

_“I’ve been trying as hard as I can, Shadow Weaver.”_

_Shadow Weaver grabbed her by the collar of her jacket, “Ah, I don’t believe that, Adora. You can be so much better.” She tightened her grasp. Shadow Weaver wanted Adora to grow. Adora believed her._

_Shadow Weaver never hurt her. Adora was scared of the force in Shadow Weaver’s voice. She was terrified that if she didn’t do what Shadow Weaver commanded, she would be hurt like Catra was._

_“Remove your jacket.”_

_Adora took a deep breath but complied with all of Shadow Weaver’s requests as always. She had to be good. She had to prove herself. She needed to be perfect._

_She had let Shadow Weaver touch her bare skin. It was to be good. **MustbegoodmustbegoodmustbePERFECT**. Adora tried to ignore what she was doing, instead replaying the mistakes she made in training that day in her mind. She let tears fall down her face. She wiped at her face hard to try and hide it. She must be perfect. Perfect. That word repeated in her head. Over and over and over and over. Shadow Weaver seemed displeased at the sight of Adora’s tears. She wiped them up and lifted Adora’s chin to face her. That action had made her feel more exposed than anything else that had happened in the last thirty minutes. Adora tried everything she could to not shy away from Shadow Weaver’s touch._

_She began to feel... unclean. Tainted._

_Adora kept her eyes downcast. Refusing to look Shadow Weaver in the eyes._

Adora couldn’t breathe. She felt like she was suffocating. Her eyes blinked open. She woke up to the sound of a thunderstorm outside, she sat straight up, blinking again. Her thoughts took over and she began to sob. Why does her brain do this to her?

Adora could feel hot tears streaming down her cheeks, but she barely noticed them. She was too busy trying to ground herself, feeling the pillows and the thin blanket and a soft… Is that Catra?

“Catra?”

The cat girl shot up, “Yes! You’re finally awake!”

“How long have you been here?” Adora wiped her tears away quickly so Catra didn’t see.

“Once the nurse left, I snuck in, obviously.”

“I thought you were mad at me?”

“I am.”

“Then why-“

“I couldn’t sleep by myself.”

“Oh.”

Catra jumped up on all fours and perched on the end of the bed, “You were really trashing there, nightmare?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Catra slinked back down next to her, nuzzling her head into Adora’s neck and purring, “I’ll postpone my anger for tomorrow, you seem like you need sleep.” Adora lay back down and wrapped her arms around her friend. Catra immediately fell asleep, the sound of her purrs were like a lullaby to Adora, sending her into a deep sleep in minutes.


	4. I don’t know what to name chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (TRIGGER WARNING)
> 
> thank you for the support on my first few chapters!! i already have a lot of my future chapters written so i might be able to post twice a day. 
> 
> also thinking of changing the stories name to Perfect because that word is gonna be used a lot in this story.

Adora fluttered her eyes open, immediately patting the space next to her. It was empty, but still warm from Catra’s body heat. She always ran warmer than Adora. 

“C-Catra?” Adora’s heartbeat started to pound in her ears. 

“Yeah?” Catra’s head poked out from the nurse’s bathroom. 

Adora’s sighed and smiled at her, “Hey Catra.”

“That’s my line, asshole,” Catra walked over and thwacked the back of Adora’s head. Adora laughed. 

“Sleep well?”

“Could be better,” Catra plopped down on the hard bed, “You gonna explain what happened yesterday?”

“Oh,” Adora thought for a second. Should she tell Catra the truth? Maybe then they could run away for good. “I slipped in the scrapyard and fell on an old staff, it cut my wrist open and started to squirt blood so I tried to get here as fast as possible.”

“That’s a lie, ‘Dora,” Catra scoffed, crossing her arms, “If it was like that then you would’ve told me what happened.”

“Catra, you really don’t want to know.”

“Oh but I do.”

“Fine, you want me to tell you?”

Catra leaned back on the foot board and nodded, “Yes.”

“I cut myself, on purpose,” Catra’s eyes widened, “It turned out deeper than I thought it would be, so I tried to get to the med wing.” Catra looked confused.

“Why would you... Why did you-“ Catra was stammering, “Why would you do that on purpose? People don’t want pain.”

“Because if I hurt myself, maybe I can be better.”

“Be better?” Catra hissed, and then scrambled to Adora’s side, “Adora, you’re the best cadet in the entire Fright Zone.” Catra was fuming. She was growling and scowling.

“But I need to be perfect.”

_ Perfect _ .

“Shadow Weaver needs me to be perfect.”

“Shadow Weaver doesn’t want you to be perfect, Adora. You’re an incredible fighter, you’re so strong and good!”

“I‘m not...  _ good _ ... When I’m bad, Shadow Weaver will be disappointed. And when she’s displeased with me, she hurts other people. But she wouldn’t ever hurt me...” She paused before adding one more word, “... _ physically _ .“

Catra was silent. Adora’s tone made Catra’s skin creep.

Suddenly, all of it made sense. The fear of loneliness. The flinching. The need for perfection. Adora was being sexually abused by Shadow Weaver.

Catra took a few deep breaths. They hadn’t learned much about consent in their sex education class in the Fright Zone. All Catra knew was that you always needed consent, and Adora would not give that Shadow Weaver. She was only fourteen! She needed to get Adora out of the Fright Zone. Emotions tore at Catra. She felt like gagging. But she swallowed down the sick feeling in her stomach and replaced it with need. The need to get Adora  _ out _ .

“I’m going to get us out of here,” Catra growled, “You will never have to see her again if I can help it. It’s still pretty early in the morning, if we avoid the bots, the nurse, Shadow Weaver, Hordak, Lonnie, Rogelio, Kyle- Well, Kyle probably wouldn’t tell on us-“

“That’s a lot of things to avoid, Cat,” Adora looked down, “Are you sure we can get out?” 

“I am so frickin’ determined to get you outta here, ‘Dora, nothing will stop me,” Catra was growling.

“Woah, okay, down kitty,” Adora teased, making Catra hiss and glare at Adora with those big eyes, “I really want to escape, too.”

Catra’s scowl morphed into a mischievous grin, and she grabbed Adora’s uninjured arm, “Then what are we waiting for?” 

“Let’s go,” Adora stood up slowly, holding her bad arm to her body with a wince. 

Catra wrapped Adora’s other arm around her shoulder, “Reinforcement?”

Adora rolled her eyes, walking out of the room, leaning against Catra’s side. She could feel Catra leading them to the scrapyard- the place that had the lightest guarding -Catra swerved around the security bots with ease. 

After what seemed like hours, Catra finally let go of her grip on Adora. She looked up and saw Catra strike a bot with Adora’s staff. Adora, still a bit loopy from the night before, smiled as Catra pounced on another bot. 

If they were caught by a security bot, or worse, Shadow Weaver... they’d be dead. Catra caught sight of the Whispering Woods in the distance.

“Adora! We have to hurry c’mon!” Catra tugged on her best friend’s hand, urging her desperately to run faster. The two teenagers stumbled into the forest edge but they didn’t stop there. They could hear bots closing in on the forest. Adora glanced around. 

“That way,” she said quietly, pulling at Catra’s arm. 

Catra grunted as she hoisted Adora up and wrapped her arm around her waist. Adora grumbled and pushed aside the pain so she could run along side Catra. Adora grasped a nearby tree. She landed on the soft grass with a thud as her knees gave up. 

“Adora, they’re getting closer,” Catra’s voice was scared, terrified, Adora looked around for a place to hide. She pushed away her pounding headache, pointing at a thick tree trunk that had a gaping hole a few feet off the ground. 

“Catra!” Adora said excitedly. She held up a finger and pointed at the perfect hiding spot. Catra gasped, and they both scampered over to it. Catra used her claws to climb up, she reached her hand down and hoisted Adora up next to her. Adora hid her face in Catra’s mane, waiting for someone to find them and inevitability kill them. They could hear soldiers walking, cracking the twigs and sticks and kicking rocks. Adora whimpered and held Catra closer. They got so far. Please, they can’t be caught now.

Then there was silence.

—————————

They sat there for hours, gripping each other close. It wasn’t until the sun started to set, did the two teens begin to move.

Catra was the first to pull away. She raised her head and looked out into the wilderness, “Uh, Adora, where do we go now?” 

Adora stayed still, “Is it safe?” 

“I think,” Catra clambered out of the tree trunk, helping Adora out as well.

Adora looked around the woods, trying to find somewhere that might be safe for them to stay the night. Or anything that might be safe food. They began to walk.

It was almost midnight before Adora finally asked the question they were both wondering, “Where are we going to sleep?”

“We could,” Catra paused, looking around, “We could set up a pile of leaves!” She pounced down and began to gather handfuls of leaves.

“Great, we’re nesting,” Adora grumbles, but went along with it, it was the best plan they were gonna get.

—————————

The next morning, Adora woke up from a nightmare with hunger pains- obviously -and wishing for a ration bar. Preferably a grey one. Adora looked beside her, Catra was still curled around Adora, tail wrapped against her friend. 

Catra began to squirm awake. Adora’s lips curved up into a gentle smile, “Morning, Cat.” 

“G’Mornin,” Catra mumbled, purring. Adora’s hand went down to rub gently at Catra’s left ear. Catra’s purr doubled in volume and she nuzzled back into Adora’s side, accepting Adora’s soothing touch. Their calm morning was interrupted by loud machinery. Adora groaned and sat up fully, Catra following suit.

“We can’t stay on the edge of the forest,” Adora stated the obvious, “They’re going to find us if we stay close by. We have to venture into the thicker part of the forest, maybe even go close to the rebellion’s side.”

Catra stiffened, “What if there’s a princess?”

“We’ve been through years of training, we can take on one little princess.”

Catra couldn’t really argue with that so they set out to seek shelter in the deepest parts of the woods. Adora led Catra deeper into the woods before stopping abruptly at some lush bushes. They were covered in blue- or were they purple? -things. 

“Is this... food?” Catra asked, picking one off the bush. Adora only shrugged. Not like she needed any convincing, Catra shoved a few into her mouth. Her ears twitched and her tail went straight and fluffed up in response. 

Adora, seeing the excitement in Catra’s eyes as she shoveled the small spheres into her mouth, picked one off and plopped it onto her tongue. A sweet taste burst across her tongue as her teeth sunk into the soft food. 

“Woah.”

“These are so much better than ration bars!” Catra was practically bursting with happiness, Adora nodded vigorously in agreement, beginning to snatch handfuls of them for later. The bush was empty soon after. Adora wandered off into the trees to find more food, but stopped when she saw a tree weaving itself right before her eyes. The branches began to form a cave-like structure, with a roof and everything!

“Cat? I think I found us a place to stay.”

“Really?” Catra scrambled over to Adora, mouth still full of food. She clawed up the tree to go explore their new shelter. “Woah! Get up here, slowpoke!”

Adora giggled and tried to join Catra. She was not the best climber, and her hands kept slipping over the branches. But she managed to enter the new house and she looked around. There was enough room for the two of them plus one. Catra yawned, sleepy now that her stomach was finally full, and curled around Adora. Adora lay down next to her and scratched her friend’s scalp, Catra immediately began to purr. It took only seconds for Catra to settle into a deep sleep.

—————————

Catra was curled right up next to Adora, purring in her sleep with her tail wrapped tightly around Adora. They weren’t quite sure how long they’d been living in the Whispering Woods, but three winters had passed, so they were probably around seventeen. Maybe getting close to eighteen. The Horde never kept track of their ages anyway. They could only be sixteen for all they know.

Her and Catra had gotten way better at communicating over the years. It had taken a lot of time for both of them, but they were closer now than ever. They didn’t even need to speak to each other to understand one another. 

But Adora’s mind had been on repeat lately, racing through the same traumatic memories over and over again.

She felt like she was out of control. She kept waking up with her heart beating hard and her breathing ragged. She had been re-experiencing every touch that Shadow Weaver had laid on her. She had been shying away from Catra, starting to close in on herself. She would sneak out late at night and punch her feelings out. Leaving dents in the trees nearby. Sweat and tears running down her skin. She had been pushing down her trauma for years. It was finally rising up through her chest and into her skull and it was so loud. So loud. And she had no access to blades so she couldn’t let the feeling deep out of her wounds with her blood. 

"Hey Adora," Catra purred as she entered their shelter. Adora didn't respond. Catra waited for a few seconds before saying louder, "Adora!"

“Too tired,” Adora flipped over and stared blankly at the moss growing in the corner of their home. Catra grumbled. She watched Adora's stomach rise and fall.

Adora shifted around, turning to face Catra. “It’s cold.” The vulnerability in Adora’s eyes caught Catra off guard. Catra really looked at Adora for the first time in days. There were bags under her eyes and redness in them. Catra pushed back the questions she had- they were for another (warmer) day-and nuzzled next to Adora, sharing her body heat.


	5. The Sword

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (TRIGGER WARNING - Adora has a panic attack and flashbacks, I don’t describe the flashbacks but that may be triggering so please be careful reading this!!)
> 
> thank you for the support!!! i love you all!!

It was night. Again. And that’s when Adora felt the worst. But there was no way to be sure of the time, but forest was enveloped in darkness and Adora’s awareness was scattered. She was trapped. Her body was not her own. It had never been her own. Shadow Weaver used her. The Horde used her. Her nerves were on fire, she felt overstimulated and used. Usedusedusedused. Her breathing was ragged. Her heart was pounding into her ribcage. She scrambled out of their shelter, before she knew it, she was dry heaving into a nearby bush. Neither her nor Catra had eaten in days. Her stomach was empty. Adora’s hair was up in a ponytail, but it was disheveled. Her hair poof was sideways with loose bits flying out. Her shoulders shook. Red had blotched her entire face. She couldn’t take this feeling anymore. 

She raised her fingernails to her arms and began to scrape at the delicate skin. She soaked in the stinging ache on the raw skin. 

Her shaking increased and she clambered to change her position. She pulled her hands away, blood, Adora’s lips twitch upwards at the sight. She shivered in the cold autumn breeze. She pulled her sleeves down, hiding her bloodied arms. She was trembling from the adrenaline and the cold, Adora was drained. She fell to her knees, hugging herself tightly before falling sideways. She wanted to cry out, she wanted to scream. But instead, she felt around at the cold, frozen ground and lay down, falling into a nightmare filled sleep.

————————————

Adora woke with a gasp and wide eyes pointed at the dark, empty sky. She groaned as she sat up. Her back. She grunted, as she went to climb up to their shelter. But when she took one last glance behind her, there were blue glowing creatures lined up, leading through a large path. When did that get there?

She didn’t know why, but she felt that she needed to follow them. The creatures began to shake, emitting a humming sound, beckoning Adora closer. 

“Alright, alright, fine,” she mumbled, jumping off of their tree. She walked into a large clearing. Adora noticed a blue glow beyond the trees to her left, growing brighter the more Adora stared at it. “Wow,” she breathed out. Adora fought through some underbrush covered in spiderwebs and stumbled into another- way smaller -clearing.

A large sword was entangled in a bunch of thick greenish brown vines. It was emitting a pulsating light. Something inside Adora forced her to get closer. Reaching a hand out, Adora reach out a trembling hand and laid one finger on the hilt. The glow suddenly became blinding, forcing Adora to cover her eyes.

‘Balance must be restored. Etheria must seek a hero.’

Adora fell backward, grasping her head.

‘Will you fight, Adora? Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?’

————————————

“Adora?” 

Adora groaned, her head was throbbing, and that voice nearby was not helping.

“Adora!”

“Catra? Where’s the sword?”

“What sword?”

“There was-“ Adora looked around, “That sword!” Adora points to the end of the clearing, where the sword sat. Catra spun around, eyes widening at the sight of the sword. It was no longer glowing. “I touched it and it glowed really bright and there was this voice-“

“Huh? Voice? Glow-y thing? Are you brain damaged? Pleasedon’tbebraindamaged.” 

Adora laughed and shoved Catra off of her, “I’m fine! The woods lead me here, and the sword gave me visions. Ugh, they were awful visions of things crashing and Etheria burning and then there were stars-“

“Are you sure you’re not brain damaged?”

“Yes,” Adora grunted out, beginning to walk to the bunch of vines were the sword is perched in.

“Woah,” Catra curled her tail around the handle and touched the teal crystal fitted into the hilt. Adora grasped the sword and pulled it out of the vines. The weapon was way lighter than she thought it would be for it’s size, “Nice find!” Catra ruffled Adora’s hair poof, making her friend burst into giggles and tackle her with a grunt, dropping the sword so she doesn’t stab Catra. After a few hours of roughhousing, Adora picked the sword back up and wrapped her arm around Catra’s waist as they began to walk to their home. 

————————————

“Hey, Cat,” Adora shoved Catra’s shoulder with her foot, “You think I can learn how to yield a sword?”

“Hell yeah,” Catra snickered, leaning back and resting her head in Adora’s lap, purring happily as she nuzzled her head against her. Adora laughed, laying down and pulling Catra closer. 

“You’re purring.”

”Shut up,” Catra grumbled, nuzzling her ear against Adora’s cheek. 

“Wow! I can’t believe you like me,” Adora chuckled, rubbing her fist into Catra’s scalp, “That is so embarrassing for you!” Catra laughed, pushing Adora into a tree. 

“I do not!” 

Adora pounced on Catra, pushing her to the ground. Catra flipped them over, feeling Adora begin to wrestle against her grasp. 

“Let me go, dummy,” Adora started to giggle as she rolled Catra back around. Catra gulped thickly as her cheeks turned warm. Her ears pricked up and she blinked with widened eyes. Adora flopped down next to her friend, laughing happily to herself. Catra looked over at her, smiling shyly as she watched her friend. Adora turned her head to Catra. _Fuck_. Their faces were _very_ close. Why did her stomach feel like spiders were walking around in it?   
  


Catra jumped back on to Adora and laughed, rolling them around in a playful wrestling match.

————————————

“Come on! Come on!” Bow shook his tablet violently, groaning. Glimmer eyed the tablet nervously.

“Please tell me that we're not lost!”

“No, this thing is just acting up. Looks like it's being overloaded by the tech's signal. We must be getting close!”

Glimmer groaned. -Crack- Glimmer looked behind her and saw a bush rustling and heard twigs snapping. 

“Bow.”

“What?”

“Look,” she pointed over to the rustling bush across the clearing. Bow pulled Glimmer behind a tree, hiding them from view.

Two teenagers- probably around Bow and Glimmer’s age -popped out of the bush into the clearing, laughing and wrestling. Bow and Glimmer gasp, backing up a few steps as they watch the pair play together. Upon closer inspection, one teen has cat ears and a tail, and the other has blond hair which is wrapped up in a tight ponytail.

“Who are they?” Bow whispered into Glimmer’s ear. Glimmer shushed him, wanting to see what the two do.

The cat girl looked up, nose twitching in their direction.

“Catra?” The blonde looked over to the area ‘Catra’ is looking.

“I smell someone,” Catra stalked over to the tree they’re behind.

“Cat, no one comes this far into the woods without us knowing, it’s fine.”

“Fine,” Catra grumbled, trotting back over to her friend, “But if someone was there then I blame you, Adora.”

“Ugh, fine, we can investigate.”

“Should we run?” Bow mumbled.

“They’re just two scrawny teenagers, they can’t do much.”

Catra peeked behind the tree, hissing when she spots the two of them, her mane puffed up. She swiped a clawed hand at them. The blonde, Adora, scampered next to Catra. She unsheathed a large sword from behind her.

“Woah!” Bow backed up, tripping over a root and falling onto his back. Catra looks Glimmer up and down with a snicker.

“Well, aren’t you - sparkly,” The cat laughed viciously, “You’re in our home.”

“The Whispering Woods is under the Rebellion’s protection. How did you make it this far, kitty?” Glimmer sneers.

“We live here, dumbass,” Catra flicked Glimmer’s forehead.

“No one lives in the Whispering Woods,” Bow stared up at Catra.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Adora snarled. Glimmer and Bow snap their eyes to the blonde, they hadn’t heard her talk yet, and that snarling, angry voice didn’t fit her look one bit.

“Leave, now,” Catra hissed, claws out. “The Whispering Woods is our home, and you’re drawing attention to it.”

“Glimmer,” Bow poked at his friends arm, then pointed at the sword in Adora’s hands, “That’s it! That’s the tech!”

Catra jumped at Bow, raising her hand above her, “Back. Off. That’s Adora’s.” She went to scratch him, but got interrupted by an Etheria-shattering rumble.

“And that’s why we didn’t want attention drawn to us!” Adora lifted up her sword, “What do you think it is this time?”

“Bots?”

Adora nods shakily, “Sounds like it.” 

“Arrow boy, cover us from above, Adora can hoist you into that tree.”

“No need,” Glimmer grabbed Bow and snapped her fingers, they disappeared only to reappear in the branches above.

She’s a princess?! Both Catra and Adora recoiled, but before they could start freaking out, they almost got stampeded by a large beetle-like thing.

“Woah! Not a bot!”

Bow was shooting various arrows at the spider, trying to slow it down. Catra jumped onto the beetles head, taking out two of its five eyes with her claws. The beetle flung Catra into a tree trunk, making her go limp.

“Catra!” Adora rushed to her side, holding up the sword protectively. “Hey, bug brain!” The beetle’s pincers came into contact with the blade, filling the entire clearing with a bright white light, blinding everyone in it.

‘ _Adora. Adora. **Adora**_.’

Adora grunted, holding the sword higher up, ignoring the calls.

‘ _Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?_ ’ 

Adora grumbled before yelling, “For the honor... of... Grayskull!” 

  
  


————————————

  
  


“For the honor... of... Grayskull!” 

Adora’s voice echoed throughout the entire forest, crystal clear. When the blinding light faded, Adora felt bigger, stronger, even... taller? She cleanly sliced off one of the beetle-like creatures pincers. Adora fell to her knees, then looked down at her legs. What. The. Fuck? Why was she wearing a goddamn leotard? Why was she glowing? The glow faltered, and she watched her legs shift back into her normal ones.

“What did you do to me?” Adora screamed, pointing the blade of her sword towards Glimmer.

“What do you mean what did I do to you?” Glimmer was taken aback.

“I didn’t know being a princess was contagious!” Adora snarled, walking closer to the sparkling girl.

“Okay, okay! Everyone calm down!” Bow’s voice was about ten octaves higher than before, “Wanna tell us how you did that?” he asked in a normal voice. 

“I didn't do anything. All I did was pick up the sword, and then- _woosh_ -I'm in a tiara!”

Adora dropped the sword and backed away. She used magic. She used magic. The beetle awoke after hearing the clash of Adora’s sword on the pebbles. The four teenagers screamed. 

Bow shoved the sword back into Adora’s hand, “Do it again! _Please_ do it again!”

“I don’t know how to do it again!”

“Run! And follow me!” Glimmer shouted at them, Catra and Adora rolled their eyes but followed along.

They entered another clearing, this one was much bigger, and it had some kind of castle in the middle. They came to a halt at the front entrance.

“What is this place?” Adora muttered, after three years exploring these woods, Catra and Adora had never seen this place before.

“No idea, but in there's gotta be better than out here!” Bow shouted above the branches snapping behind them. Catra had herself practically glued to Adora’s side, tail puffed out and ears flattened to her head.

Bow and Glimmer looked around for a way in the building. Glimmer sighed, “Everyone, grab on, I think I can get us in there!”

“Glimmer, no! You've never teleported four people before.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Adora looked up at the door for the first time, “What's written on this door? It looks like some kind of password.”

Catra, Bow, and Glimmer looked at her with widened eyes, Bow was the first to speak up, “You can read that?”

“You can’t?”

“What’s it say?” Catra shook Adora’s arm as if to say ‘ _HURRY UP, DUMBASS_ ’.

“Uhhh, _Eternia_!”

“Oh, come on!” 

The ground opened up into a hidden passageway. The four of them scampered in just in time.

“Okay, do you wanna tell us who you really are?” Glimmer had a ball of pink, glimmering- _Oh, that’s why her name is Glimmer! How unoriginal..._ -light in her right hand.

“I don’t know, I’m just a normal kid,” Adora was trembling and staring at the sword clasped in her hands, “I just read the word on the door.”

“Right... You read a word in a language that no one's spoken for a thousand years, and the door just opened into a mysterious ancient ruin. Sure.”

Adora sneered, a growl erupting from her throat, “You think I did this on purpose? You think I want to be a princess? Princesses are _monsters_.”

Glimmer took a step back, “ _Monsters_?”

Catra‘s hand was shaking as she laid it on Adora’s shoulder, seeking comfort. Glimmer’s expression softened as she watched the blonde turn and speak gently to her friend. Bow began to walk down the passageway, the other three not far behind.

“Look at these carvings. I think this might be a First Ones' ruin.” Bow ran his hand along the mural in front of them.

“What’s a first one?” Catra asked, grasping Adora’s arm a bit too hard.

“You’ve never heard of the First Ones?” Glimmer snickers.

“The First Ones are the original settlers of Etheria. They disappeared a thousand year ago, but they left behind a lot of old ruins and technology. Like this place.”

“Woah,” Adora clutched the sword close to her body, “What happened to them?”

“No one knows.”

“How do we get out of here?” Catra’s voice was oddly steady for someone clinging onto Adora for dear life, “Can we at least get some light?”

“Fine, everyone stand back.”

“Uh, Glimmer? Maybe you should take it easy. We're a long way from Bright Moon. It'll be awhile until you can recharge.”

Adora hid her laugh by burying her face in the side of Catra’s neck, “You have to recharge your powers?” Catra spoke for her.

“Ugh, just stand back!” Glimmer grunted as she willed a huge ball of shining light into existence. 

“Woah,” Catra and Adora spoke at the same time.

“Hey, that’s you!”

“Huh? That doesn’t look anything like me.”

“No, I mean the other you! The one in the cape!”

“That was... me?”

“Hey, ‘Dora, you can read that inscription, right? What’s it say?” Catra pointed a clawed finger at the bottom of the mural.

“ _She-Ra_.”

A blue figure flickered into existence in front of them. 

“Greetings, administrator.”

“What’s this?” Adora pulled her arm away from Catra’s grasp. Catra whimpered, grabbing her own arms and hugging herself.

“Looks like some kind of ancient hologram.”

“What is your query?”

“Uh, yeah... Hi, how do we get out of here?” Catra approached the hologram.

“What is your query?”

“Uh, Adora, I think she’s broken,” Catra stumbled back over to her friend.

“She’s old. I’m surprised any of this stuff still works at all.” Glimmer stuck her hand through the holograph’s middle, waving it around.

“Administrator not detected. Lockdown initiated.”

“Woah woah woah! No lock down!” Bow was stammering.

“No! Lockdown not initiated!” Catra hissed as doors around them began to crumble in on themselves. 

Adora felt a hand grasp her jacket, pulling her beside them. 

“Hold on!”

Adora grabbed Catra’s hand and hugged her close.

“Glimmer! No!”


	6. uhhhh naming chapters is hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! i have a lot of chapters prewritten but i never remember to post them-

“You’re a princess.” 

“Yep! Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon!” Glimmer puffed out her chest. Catra hissed, backing up into a tree behind her. “What did we do to you? Princesses are good!”

“Tell that to Shadow Weaver.” Catra slinked behind Adora, wrapping her tail around her friend’s waist. Adora raised her hands, focusing on the way the tremble to ignore the name Catra just brought up. They hadn’t mentioned that name outright for years.

“Who?”

“The woman who raised us... in the Horde.”

“You guys... You’re Horde soldiers!” Glimmer yelled, pointing a finger at them.

“We defected three years ago!” Catra held her hands up in mock surrender.

“Yeah, sure.”

Adora felt her terror turn to rage, standing up and getting in Glimmer’s face, “Don’t you dare doubt that we left, We have been hurt physically and mentally. I’m missing my childhood, we are both missing our childhoods. Because of magic, your dumb runestone magic. Magic has hurt me- us -so much,” Adora’s eyes were overflowing with tears, “We don’t trust magic, we don’t trust you, and we are not with the Horde.” The muscles of her chin trembled. Her ears rung, a side effect of the constant fear Adora lived in, as her knees gave up and she fell to the grass beneath her. She grasped up at Catra, pulling on her hand. And then Catra is suddenly by her side, wrapping her tail around Adora’s wrist and forcing herself to purr so she could calm her friend. Glimmer tried to walk closer, but Catra snarled at the sparkling girl. 

“Shhhh...” Catra curled herself up in Adora’s lap, trying to ground her and bring her out of her flashback. Everything felt raw, her throat, her tears, her emotions. 

Loose hairs began to stick to her face. Sweat plastering the two girls together. Gasp after strangled gasp sputtered out of Adora. She could still feel the pulsating power of the Black Garnet. It’s putrid. Poisoning. It’s so loud. So loud. Why is everything so loud? 

“Uh, is she okay?”

Catra ignored Glimmer, and dug her nails into Adora’s thigh, hard enough for her to feel it, but not hard enough to break skin. Adora’s eyes slowly cleared and she looked up. 

“M’Sorry,” Adora croaked, pulling Catra closer. She hated how the princess was staring at them. She hated it.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, ‘Dora.”

Adora sighed shakily, trembling as she stood back up, pulling Catra with her. Catra purred and nuzzled her head under Adora’s chin. Adora finally smiled, it was a tearful and crooked smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. She pressed a kiss to Catra’s temple, not noticing the realization on Bow and Glimmer’s face when she does so.

Catra threw her arm around Adora and began to walk towards their shelter, it was a while away, but they could find it with the help of the woods. Bow and Glimmer were hanging behind, they had to get back to Brightmoon. It was a long and silent walk back to their tree.

“I don’t want to be a princess,” Adora murmured as they approached their shelter, “I don’t want anything to change.”

Catra hoisted Adora up into their home and then clambered in after her, “Hey, nothing is gonna change if I can help it.” 

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

—

“Glimmer, where have you been?”

Glimmer groaned inaudibly at her mother’s voice, she was totally grounded.

“Tell me right now! I demand to know-“

“Okay, so Bow and I went into the Whispering Woods to follow a signal on his tablet, it seemed like a piece of uber powerful First Ones tech so we went to retrieve it for the Rebellion, we got a bit sidetracked... But it was fine! I had it all under control! Then we ran into these two teenagers living in the woods and then this big beetle showed up and then one of the girls used their magic sword to transform into some scary magical cape woman and then we ran into a First One’s ruin and then I teleported us all out.” Glimmer rambled on until Angella stopped her.

“Go back to the part about the scary magical cape lady.”

“Oh right! Yeah, she became this huge magic 8ft tall woman, long shiny blonde hair, really bright baby blue eyes, and a huge sword.”

“She-Ra...”

“Yeah! She-Ra! Wait, you know about She-Ra?”

“I’ve been told the legend of the warrior the First Ones called She-Ra. They said she would return to us in the hour of our greatest need to bring balance to Etheria. I never thought she was anything more than a myth.”

“The thing is, the girl who could turn into She-Ra, I think her name was Adora? She seemed really troubled, so did the other girl, but Adora had some kind of... episode... and had a panic attack. They’re scared and I want to help them.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Glimmer squealed and hugged her mom before disappearing in a flash.

“Glimmer! I’m not done!”

Glimmer reappeared, shooting a sheepish smile at Angella, “Yes, dearest mother?”

“I’m sending you and Bow to Thaymor, the Horde is closing in on them and we don’t have much time before they attack. Go recharge and then head out with Bow.” Angella shifted her eyes to see Glimmer with a huge grin on her face, “Now you may leave.”

“I won’t let you down!”

Glimmer disappeared once again.

—

“Hey Adora,” Catra purred as Adora popped her head into their tree hut.

“Hey Catra,” Adora smiled, reaching her hand up to scritch the spot between the base of Catra’s ear and her scalp, “I’m heading to Thaymor for this weeks food, you coming?”

“Ugh, yes please,” Catra stretched her limbs out before hopping onto the grass, “my legs have been killing me, I need some movement.”

Catra flung her arm around Adora’s shoulders, pressing a wet kiss to her cheek, “Ewwwww! Catra!” She rubbed the saliva off onto Catra’s shirt.

Catra cackled and pushed Adora into a bush.

“Hmph,” Adora grunted as she stood back up, “Meanie.”

“How long til we get there?”

“Cat, we just left.”

“Yeah,” She waved her tail, brushing it along Adora’s arm, “I’m bored though.”

“Ugh,” Adora tried to hide her smile with no success, “You’re ridiculous.”

“Thank you!”

“Loser.”

“Dumbass.”

Catra stopped in her tracks and her ear began to twitch, “Do you hear that?”

“No, I’m not a cat.”

Catra grumbled, “I hear weaponry.” 

Adora froze as adrenaline flooded her system. Blood pumping like her heart was trying to escape. Her breathing became more rapid, more rough. 

“You don’t think...”

Gunfire.

Screams.

“The Horde,” Adora swallowed thickly, trying to keep down her breakfast. She trembled, letting her hands fall to her hips. Catra took off towards the village. “Catra! What are you-“ Her breaths were escaping in gasps. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage. She watched Catra jump away from an explosion, and she made up her mind. She narrowed her eyes and chased after her dumb friend. 

“You have the sword, right?”

“Obviously.”

“Can you make the magic cape lady come back?”

“I don’t know how to do it again.”

“Okay, then go work on getting the villagers safe and sound in the forest, I’ll go find some weapons and attack the Horde.”

Catra started to walk towards the gunfire, “Wait!” Adora grabbed Catra’s arm and pressed her lips to her friend’s forehead, “Don’t get caught. Stay safe. Please.”

“I always am,” She smiled, kissing Adora’s nose and taking off in a sprint towards a bot, using her claws to scrape out its eye.

Adora sighed, watching Catra, before seeing villagers being cornered by a large tank, “This way! Into the woods!” She beckoned them over, hiding them behind a large tree trunk.

“Adora?” 

Her head jolted around, Catra? No, that’s not Catra’s voice... The smoke cleared and a boy with a white and gold chest plate with a red heart plastered in the center grinned at her. With his bow set perfectly in his hands, he grasped an arrow from his quiver before running through the smoke. He waved the arrow in the air before shooting it at the bot nearby.

“...Bow?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Catra and I were getting food,” Adora explained, “There’s no more time, help me get these people out.” 

Bow began to evacuate the rest of the village while Adora ran back into Thaymor, stopping in her tracks when she spotted the a Horde mark on a nearby home. She backed up with a gasp. She swallowed hard before shaking her head and running forward once again. 

Glimmer was suddenly in front of her, Adora screamed and fell backwards, “Glimmer! A little warning next time!”

“Bow said you were somewhere nearby!” Glimmer was giddy, “Let’s get out of here!” 

“I am not leaving without Catra.”

A tank was nearing, Glimmer went to grab Adora’s hand to teleport them, but Adora stopped her.

Catra popped her head out of the top and pounced on top of Adora, shaking her by the shoulders, “I got to drive a tank! This is the best. day. ever!”

Adora laughed before shoving Catra off, “Come on!” 

An armed soldier raised their baton to Adora. Adora pulled out her sword, raising it in the air. She breathed out before yelling, “For the honor of... Grayskull!” She could feel the power surging through her body and she kicked the soldier down with ease. The ground crunched under him, trapping him. He couldn’t get back up. Adora turned around to face the tank approaching behind her, she narrowed her eyes down to slits and jumped up to slice the tank’s cannon clean off. She snickered to herself before slamming the tip of the blade into the ground, sending a shockwave through Thaymor. 

The Horde sounded the retreat. How weak, one little princess showed up and you sound the alarm. Adora looked around to see Catra staring at her with admiration. Adora blushed, getting distracted and losing control of She-Ra. She dropped to her knees and morphed back to herself. She was exhausted.

“Cat.”

Catra rushed over and dragged Adora into the woods to shield her. Adora tried to stand, she fell once again, holding onto a tree branch.

“Woah, I think I twisted my ankle or something.”

“We can take you two to Brightmoon! The palace has tons of rooms, you can stay the night.”

Catra and Adora looked at each other, communicating through their eyes. Catra nodded, “Take us to Brightmoon.”

The walk to Brightmoon was long and silent. Adora had to lean on Catra for support as she trudged along next to them.

“Here we are!”

Catra looked up, taking in the glow surrounding Brightmoon. Her eyes drifted to the Moonstone floating in the center of it all.

“Woah.” 

“I know,” Catra responded to Adora.

“Okay, let’s get you two a room!” 

Glimmer disappeared.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven-

Glimmer reappeared, “I’ve got a room for you!” She grabbed the two of them and teleported them to a large bedroom with one - very large and plush -bed, a waterfall, and a bathtub. “Sorry, it’s the best I could get on such short notice.”

Catra and Adora were both staring in awe at the huge room. Glimmer began to give them a tour while Adora sat down on a very comfortable chair. 

“Okay. You guys get some rest, and Bow and I will come get you in the morning for breakfast!”

Glimmer disappeared.

“Well, uh, she’s as enthusiastic as ever,” Catra grabbed Adora and plopped her on the bed.

Wait, where did she go? 

“I think I‘m dying.”

Catra grabbed Adora’s arm and yanked her out of the bed, “Okay, we can sleep on the floor.” Catra snatched up a few pillows and a large, plush blanket, throwing it on top of Adora. Catra lay at Adora’s feet. 

“Get up here, dumbass,” Adora grumbled, wrapping her hand around the collar of Catra’s shirt and yanking Catra up to lay next to her. Hesitantly, Catra scooted closer and nuzzled her nose under Adora’s chin. Gentle purrs tumbled out of her chest as Adora accepted the act of affection. Adora’s hand gripped onto the fabric of her top tighter before releasing it and sliding her palm up to rest on Catra’s shoulder blades. 

Moon light seeped through the drapes surrounding the windows surrounding them. Purring even louder, Catra hitched her leg over Adora’s hip and nestled in closer.

“Goodnight, Cat,” Adora breathed out, hearing a hum in response followed by a soft snore.


	7. cute fluffy chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah, two new chapters in two days! this chapter is gonna be fluffy as fuck so prepare yourself.
> 
> also, i wrote this while eating pancakes.

Adora woke up to a soft mew in her ear. Her eyes fluttered open, seeing Catra’s face only millimeters away from her own. She squeaked, jumping backwards as her face burned a bright red. Shit, are the tips of her ears turning red too? Adora groaned, slapping her palms over the sides of her head before staring down at her best friend. This was the one time Adora could really look at Catra without getting claws held threateningly in front of her eyes. Study how her eyelashes curled, her lips as they twitched in her sleep, and the curve of her eyebrows. Her eyes trace Catra’s lips. They parted slightly as her friend breathed in and out gently, and Adora got the odd urge to bite them, to press her own against them. 

Ugh, why is she staring? Adora knew staring was rude, at least Shadow Weaver taught her one good thing. 

Adora looked away, heart thumping wildly against her rib cage. Why does she feel like this? Adora’s eyes shifted back to stare at Catra to see a single shining yellow eye staring at her.

“What are you doing all the way over there?” Catra smirked at her, her lip curling up to show a single fang. Adora’s eyes flickered down to the fang. A bit of a flushed face would have been no problem, but what Adora did was go as red as a ripe tomato, radiating heat like a stove. Catra could not have missed it. 

“O-Oh,” Adora was stammering, “It got a little too warm, y’know with your body heat and all...” Adora tried to shift her eyes away as Catra stretched, arms raising far above her and muscles flexing. Fuck. What is that feeling in her stomach? The feeling was so strange. Yet so familiar. It began to stretch throughout Adora’s entire body. 

“And that’s why I usually sleep at the end of the bed,” Catra grumbled, “But you forced me to sleep next to you.” Catra tried to shoot Adora a glare but that anger was diminished by her lips attempting to form a smile. 

“Judging by the extensive amount of purring in my ear last night, you seem to like sleeping next to me.”

Catra shifted before stuttering, “Shut up!” Adora laughed to herself before flopping back down next to Catra. 

There was flash of light and a twinkling noise as Glimmer suddenly appeared in the center of the room. 

“Morning, sleepheads!” Glimmer practically skipped over to them, “Uhh, did you two sleep on the floor?”

Adora lifted her hand to scratch the bridge of her nose to hide the blush forming, “Maybe.”

Catra pointed an accusing finger at the bed, “The bed ate Adora!”

Glimmer slapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh, “Do you want me to get you two some new beds?”

“Uh, sure! But one bed... is, uh, fine...” Adora felt her face burning. 

“Breakfast is starting soon, so you better get down there before Bow eats all the food!” Glimmer snickered, eyeing the two of them teasingly before disappearing. 

“You hungry?” Adora looked over at Catra, her friend gave a cute little ‘mrrp’ in response. Adora hopped up, reaching her hand out for Catra to grab. 

“What do they even have here?”

“I don’t know,” Adora pulled her friend up onto her feet. “We’ve really only had ration bars, those things the villagers called berries, and that weird green fruit thing from Thaymor.”

“I mean, this is a kingdom, they must have some goooood shit.”

Adora slung her arm over Catra’s shoulders and laughed, rushing down to the dining area. The second the door opened, the two were hit by a wave of scents. 

“Woah.”

Everywhere they looked there were stacks of food. The moment they slid into a chair, Glimmer appeared next to them with a platter of food.

“Hi!” She grinned, “You can just get a plate and take whatever you want, it’s a buffet!”

“A... what?”

“A buffet?

Bow walked up behind them, “You guys didn’t have stuff like this in the Horde? What did you eat?”

“Uhhh,” Adora looked over at Catra, “Ration bars. The brown ones were nasty, the grey ones were way better though.”

“Fuck,” Glimmer swore to herself, she grabbed a plate and slid it in front of the girls. A tan, flat food plopped down on it. Bow drizzled some sticky substance on top of it. 

“Eat it.”

“Uh,” Catra picked up the food with her hands before yelping. She removed one hand from it, watching the substance stick to her. She dropped it and frantically wiped the liquid off her fur before shrieking, “What is this stuff?”

Glimmer was laughing, “That’s maple syrup on top of a pancake!” 

“It’s so... weird!”

Adora stifled a laugh as she watched Catra rub her hands on a napkin. Catra twitched her tail left to right, glaring at Adora. 

“You don’t eat it with your hands,” Bow wheezed out between laughs, he slid something metal towards her, “That’s a fork, you stab the food and eat it off.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before I picked it up? And I know what a fork is.” 

“It was too amusing to watch.”

Catra snarled before grabbing the fork and cutting off a piece of the ‘pancake’. She raised it to her mouth reluctantly before taking a bite. Her eyes shimmered with the same excitement from the time they found those berries in the woods. Catra moved to put the fork in front of Adora’s lips.

“Try it,” Catra said with her mouth full, “S’good!” Adora leaned forward and ate the rest off the fork. 

“Holy-“ Adora’s eyes widened, “If I knew what we were missing here, I would’ve come way sooner!” Adora jumped up and grabbed more pancakes from the buffet. Glimmer and Bow watched their guests eat as much food as physically possible. 

“I’m tired,” Catra yawned, looking to Adora.

“Me too, having a full stomach makes me really sleepy,” Adora smiled, but her face dropped and she turned to Glimmer with a sheepish expression, “Are we allowed to go back to sleep?”

“Of course,” Glimmer looked to Bow, Bow widened his eyes at Glimmer as if to say ‘Why wouldn’t she be able to?’

Catra grabbed Adora’s arm, making her wince, “Oh, sorry- Let’s go back to bed!” Adora regained her composure and raced Catra to the room. Glimmer slouched down in a chair.

“Wow,” Bow said to himself.

“Yeah,” Glimmer mumbled, “They don’t know anything! They seem so nice and the Horde completely corrupted them! They didn’t even know what a fork was. I want to keep them here and make sure they stay safe, but I don’t know if they’ll want to leave the woods.”

The two teens stayed silent for a while, staring at the ground. 

“What I really can’t figure out is their relationship to each other,” Bow tried to break the tension.

Glimmer snickered, “Me too.”

“Because I doubt the Horde taught them about romance, but they’re so affectionate.”

“Must be a side effect of living in that horrid place with no one else by your side.”

“Yeah, must be that.”

—

Catra yawned, stretching her back and hearing her shoulders pop. Adora stirred next to her.

“Adoraaaa,” Catra poked her friend gently with her claws.

“Hmmpf,” Adora swatted her hands way before slowly fluttering her eyes open, “What?”

“We need to talk about something.”

Adora grumbled before propping herself up on the bed behind them, “Yeah?”

“Are we staying in Brightmoon?”

Adora didn’t say anything for several moments, “... I don’t know.”

“I mean it’s your choice, I’m willing to go home and I’m also willing to stay here! They have amazing food.”

“I kinda wanna... stay here,” Adora looked down at her fingers as they fiddled with the blanket thrown atop her, “I mean we can visit our shelter every once in a while but I like Bow and Glimmer and obviously the food is great and the-“

“Adora, you’re rambling.”

“I’m sorry,” She briefly looked up.

“No need to be sorry,” Catra’s tail wrapped around Adora’s hand, “I like this place too.”

—

Catra and Adora woke up late, it was already dark outside.

“How long were we asleep?”

“Seems like at least 10 hours or so,” Catra sat up, “Depending on the time.”

“Ya think we skipped dinner?”

“Let’s check,” Catra grabbed Adora’s hand and dragged her down to where they ate breakfast that morning. They caught sight of two women walking into the room.

“That’s promising.”

The two teens peeked their head in to see Glimmer, Bow, and few other people sitting at a circle table. The women were walking in, the shorter of the two plastered against the taller one’s arm. 

“Doesn’t look like there’s any food,” Adora whispered, “Maybe we should go.”

“Wait,” Catra pointed at the two women. The taller one wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her close and pressing her lips against the other‘s lips. Catra tilted her head and made a gentle ‘mrrrp’ noise and tilted her head.

“Okay, let’s go,” Adora was pulling on Catra’s arm. 

Catra grumbled, “Fine.” The two girls raced each other to their room.

“I haven’t seen those women here before,” Adora plopped down on the ground, taking Catra down with her. Catra bunted her head against Adora’s cheek, purring loudly.

“Hmmpf,” Catra breathed out. She felt fingers begin to scratch behind her ear. She raised her head into the touch and rubbed up against Adora’s neck, purring and flicking her tail. She heard Adora chuckle as her ears flattened to her skull and she curled up on the floor next to her. Catra went to bed dreaming of clashing her lips against Adora’s.

—

Adora woke up the next day to Glimmer appearing in their room.

“Good morning, sleep heads!”

“It’s too early,” Catra pulled a pillow over her head and whined. 

“You guys have been sleeping for at least a day straight,” Glimmer sat on the floor in front of them, “You ate breakfast and then just... fell back asleep! You must be so hungry.”

“I don’t wanna move,” Catra was nuzzled into Adora’s side.

“I can bring you two some pancakes!” Glimmer stood up, “I can also grab some foods that you two don’t know about.”

“Really?” Adora’s eyes sparkled. 

Glimmer disappeared in a burst of glitter.

Glimmer appeared for a second to say, “Also! Your new bed is set up.” And then she was gone again.

Catra looked up to see a completely flat, pink bed, “Oooh! This looks much better than the floor.” Adora chuckled before moving their pillows and blanket to the new bed. Catra pounced up into the bed and curled up under the blanket.

“That comfy?”

“Very,” Catra reached her hand out and grasped Adora’s arm, yanking her down onto the bed and snuggling into her side. Adora’s face and ears burned a bright red before she set her leg over Catra’s hip. Catra’s hand moved to Adora’s waist, warm and soft. 

“Are we interrupting something?” There was a voice in the doorway.

Catra squeaked, sitting up, “Ugh.” Bow was leaning against the doorframe while Glimmer was in front of him, holding two plates of food. 

“W-Why would you be interrupting something?” Adora was stammering, pushing herself away from Catra.

They ignored her question, handing them each a plate of pancakes and new looking foods. 

“What’s this?” Catra had picked up some new food. It was a bright red, covered in little bumps.

“That’s a strawberry, just... don’t eat the leaves.”

“Ooh! I like berries,” Catra shoved half the strawberry in her mouth before holding the other half to Adora. Adora took it gladly and ate the rest with a grin. 

“What’s this?” Adora pointed at a glass full of a brownish orange drink.

“That’s apple cider.”

“Strange,” Adora picked up the glass, holding it to her mouth and taking a sip, “Woah, that’s very sweet.” Glimmer and Bow watched, amused, at the two girls learning about new foods. 

“We have a question for you two,” Glimmer finally said, “Are you planning on going back to the woods?”

Adora looked at Catra and then back to Glimmer, “We were thinking about... staying here.”

Bow’s eyes widened, “Yay! Best friend squad!” Bow threw his arms into the air and spun around.

“Okay so he’s gone crazy,” Catra snickered, looking to Adora.

“Sorry about him, we’ve really only had each other for years so having you two joining us will be so fun!”

“Yeah, same with us,” Adora mumbled, looking down. 

“My mom requested you both to have a talk with her,” Glimmer leaned against the wall, “Since she hasn’t really met you yet.”

“Your mom?”

“Y’know,” Glimmer paused for see if the girls understood, “The queen?”

“Your mom is the queen?”

“Uh, yeah? I’m literally Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon...”

“Shit, do we need to get dressed formally or something?” Adora hopped to her feet, “What’s the protocol?”

Bow looked to Glimmer and began to chuckle, “Queen Angella doesn’t really care about formal wear, you’ll be fine, you should take showers though.”

“I’m assuming three years in the woods with no showers wasn’t very clean.”

“Hey! We had showers!” Catra’s voice went up two octaves.

“We had showers twice a year in Thaymor.”

“Yeah, you still need showers,” Glimmer chuckled, “I can show you to the area with a shower, you guys do have a bath but I’m assuming you don’t know how to take a bath.”

“Yeah, no.”

“Okay, follow me.”

—

Adora stepped into the shower, toes flinching as they touched the chilled ceramic floor. She cleaned herself gently, taking note of the bruises that scattered her body from the attack on Thaymor. She winced as her fingers brushed over the sore spots on her skin. Adora was finished in minutes, walking out to grab a towel. She wrapped a large plush towel around herself. 

Catra was still in the shower as Adora pulled on a clean outfit that Glimmer had provided her with. She wore a white turtleneck with pointed sleeves, along with a red jacket with quarter length sleeves. She adjusted her jacket, putting on a brown belt with a gold wing buckle. Catra turned off the shower, grasping around for a towel. Adora laughed, shoving the towel into her hand. Catra stepped out with a the towel wrapped loosely around her chest. Water dripped from her mane of hair slowly. And the drops slowly made their way to her collarbones and pooled there. Adora’s eyes drifted down and watched as the water soaked into her short fur. Catra smirked smugly at her, placing a small hand on Adora’s bicep and walking out to grab her clothes. Adora’s mouth felt dry, her skin tingled where Catra touched her. Her heart thumped against her ribcage so hard she thought it might be audible to Catra’s ears. Adora buttoned up the jacket fully, moving to run after her friend. Catra was finished getting dressed by the time Adora reached her, she did the first thing that popped into her head. She tackled Catra to the bed playfully and grinned.

“Tag, you’re it.”

“Oh fuck you,” Catra laughed, shaking her wet mane in Adora’s face, getting Adora to jump off of her. Adora fell back onto the floor and began to laugh, wiping the water droplets off her face. 

“Nice outfit,” Adora smiled wider, looking at the outfit Catra had changed into. She had a tight, red, sleeveless shirt on- one that showed the tabby cat markings on her arms -a belt with a silver buckle that matched Adora’s gold one, and reddish-violet leggings that had rips exposing her knees, toes and heels.

Catra laughed, pushing her hair back and putting her cat-inspired headpiece on her forehead.

“The mask looks clean,” Adora noticed.

“Yeah, Bow cleaned it for me!”

“I like it,” Adora put her hair up in a ponytail, adjusting the poof on the top of her head. She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms as Catra turned to her.

“Still gonna wear that dumb hair poof?”

“Shut up.”


	8. second chapter in one day wow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [TRIGGER WARNING]
> 
> || Adora has a panic attack and a flashback. ||
> 
> i’m really bored today so expect a lot of chapters today. this is a short chapter anyway.

Adora swallowed heavily, grabbing Catra’s hand before walking slowly into the war room to talk with the Queen.

“Your majesty,” Adora stood up straight, bowing to Queen Angella as she turned around to face them.

“Oh, please, don’t be so formal,” She smiled at them kindly, “I heard from Glimmer that you are staying permanently?”

“Uh, yes, ma’am.”

“Call me Angella.”

“Yes... Angella.”

“You’re Adora?” Adora nodded sharply, “Then I’m assuming you are Catra?”

“Yes, Angella,” Catra seemed more relaxed, wrapping her tail around Adora’s wrist to calm her.

“Are you going to be joining the Rebellion to fight against the Horde?”

“... Yes,” Adora nodded. Catra turned her head to her friend.

“Adora, I thought you didn’t want to fight.”

“I want to take the Horde down,” Adora snarled, “I want to destroy them, I want to destroy... her.” 

“Me too, ‘Dora,” Catra placed her hand on Adora’s shoulder, squeezing gently, before turning to Queen Angella.

“Yes, we’re going to pledge ourselves to the Rebellion,” Adora straightened up and faced the Queen. 

“The Rebellion accepts your allegiance.”

Adora smiled at Catra, her eyes shining. Glimmer and Bow appear in the room with a burst of glitter, wrapping their arms tightly around the two girls. 

“Welcome to your new home!”

Home.

Adora’s eyes watered as she felt the love of her new friends seep into her chest. Catra snickered, nuzzling her face into Adora. They were home.

—

There were some days where Adora’s brain just wouldn’t work. She was trying so hard to focus on their planning session but it was like trying to hold water in cupped hands. But she wouldn’t let anyone can see her vulnerability. Showing weakness was forbidden in the Horde. She would be hurt, she would be- No, she couldn’t think about that. She wouldn’t think about that. She was zoned out, staring at the holograms dancing on the table in front of her. She couldn’t hear anything. Why was everything so quiet but so loud? 

Catra looked to her friend, stopping mid sentence as she sees Adora in a silent panic. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated. She could tell her friend was going to go into a flashback soon. After a whole childhood with the same person, you tend to know what they’re thinking. Sweat was dripping from Adora’s forehead and falling on her hands as they trembled in front of her. When Adora showed weakness, that’s when she was about to panic. Catra jolted up to a standing position, grasping Adora’s arm and yanking her out of the room. 

“Catra!” Glimmer was yelling, a twinge of concern lacing her voice, “Bow, c’mon.” There was a flash of glitter and the two were gone.

—

Adora slipped and landed hard on her hands and knees in the middle of a Brightmoon hallway, sweat falling into a puddle beneath her. She re-experienced every touch that Shadow Weaver had laid on her skin. Why did this all feel so... wrong? It’s so wrong. It hurts. Oh. Adora looked down and saw blood seeping through her white sleeves. She scratched again, and now blood and flesh was trapped beneath her fingernails. She slammed her fist into the floor, crying out in desperation. She could almost feel hands on her. A familiar set of nails dug into her shoulders. 

“Adora!”

“Adora!”

Adora was sputtering out rough gasps. She heard her name being called from around her. She couldn’t respond. Her body was forcing her to shake and tremble and scream out. 

“Adora,” and then Catra was in front of her, forcing her to look up into her eyes, “You’re not there, you’re here, we’re safe.”

“N-No,” Adora felt strangled, “It’s s-so loud, I can feel it.”

“What can you feel, ‘Dora?” 

“T-The Black Garnet,” Adora winced, digging her nails into the raw scrapes on her arms. 

“Adora?”

That voice wasn’t recognizable. It was too much. Too much. She scrambled to Catra, her hands grasped at the fabric of Catra’s shirt. 

“Get me out,” Adora voice was clear, clearer than any sentence beforehand. Her eyes were bloodshot as Catra practically dragged her to their room. 

“Adora,” The voice was soft, it was kind, “We’re alone now.”

Adora looked up to Catra, “W-Why do I feel like this? Why now? We got out! I should be h-happy.”

“It’s not your fault, Adora,” Catra grasped her friends hand tightly.

Adora choked back a sob, looking back to the floor, “I’m so tired.”

“Let’s take a nap then,” Catra placed a nearby blanket over Adora’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug, “You really need it.”

—

Glimmer was pacing around her room. Bow was sitting on a nearby chair, tracker pad in hand. 

“Was it something we did?” Glimmer fell to the floor in front of Bow, criss crossing her legs.

“No, Glimmer, they’ve both had a rough childhood,” Bow put his hand on his friend’s shoulder with a smile, “It’s not anything you or I did, they can come to us when they’re ready to tell us what happened.”

“Yeah,” She lay on her back, “Do you think we should check on them?”

“I’m sure they’re feeling better now,” Bow looked back to his tracker pad, “We can check on them tomorrow, Adora should rest.”

Glimmer sighed, teleporting to her bed and flopping down face first, “I’m worried about Adora, I’m worried about both of them.”


	9. the chapter with no name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> istg i’m really spamming you all-
> 
> i’m trying to get to a certain chapter because i made art for it and i wanna share it. thank you so much for the support!

“Morning!” 

Glimmer appeared in their room early in the morning, disheveled and tired, with a grinning Bow by her side. 

“Mom is sending us all out on a mission to Plumeria. Mom got a distress call, blah blah blah, long story short, the Horde is laying siege to Princess Perfuma’s kingdom,” Glimmer yawned, plopping down on a chair and stretching herself out, “We’re delivering food and supplies to them.”

Adora wasn’t in the bed. Catra looked around frantically, seeing her friend staring out of a window on the opposite side of the room.

“Adora?”

“What if I have an episode there?”

“Adora, come here,” Catra patted the bed next to her, “We’re just gonna go in and out to give them supplies, if anything happens, give me the code and I’ll have Sparkles here to teleport us out.” Glimmer opened her mouth to protest about the nickname, but closed it once she saw Adora’s expression.

“You promise?”

“I promise,” Catra cupped her hands over Adora’s face, pressing her lips to her friends nose and bunting her cheek with a purr. Adora giggled uncharacteristically, leaning into Catra’s touch.

“Let’s go,” Adora narrowed her eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

—

Glimmer knelt down to the dried up leaves sitting at her feet, “Woah... Mom didn’t say anything about all the plants dying.”

“I don’t think she knows,” Bow put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Wait, where’s Adora?” 

“She’s here,” Catra grumbled, leaning against a nearby tree.

Adora- well, She-Ra -popped out from behind a tree holding a wagon with one hand, “Did I miss anything?”

“Are you gonna be She-Ra the entire time we’re here?” Catra hopped up into the wagon, leaning over the side of it and peering down at her glowing friend. 

“People like me better as She-Ra, plus, I’m stronger and way more useful,” She-Ra placed the wagon on the ground and picked Catra up out of it (ignoring the hissing).

Bow looked up to a cloud of grey smoke rising from several yards away, “Hey, guys? What’s that?”

“Must be coming from the Horde camp,” She-Ra mumbled. Trembling slightly, She-Ra clasped her giant hands together and dug her nails into her skin. She underestimated her strength as She-Ra, and she almost immediately felt blood trickle down her arm. She felt a small palm rest on her bicep and she looked down to see two shining eyes staring back at her. ‘It’s okay,’ Catra’s eyes communicated to her.

“You’re here!” 

She-Ra was slapped back into reality as a flowery girl pranced up to them with a smile. 

Glimmer approached the girl, holding her hand out, “Princess Perfuma, I’m Commander Glimmer of-“ Glimmer stopped talking as a flower crown appeared on her head. 

“Ooh! We get hats!” Bow squealed, adjusting the flowers resting on his head. Catra reached up and poked at the flower crown, before hissing and throwing it at She-Ra. 

Princess Perfuma’s eyes shifted to She-Ra, who was standing gloriously on a tree stump, “Oh, my. Everyone, come quick! It's, Oh, it's… It's…” She squealed with a large smile, “Look! The universe has heard our pleas and sent the legendary She-Ra to help us save our home!” Everyone swarmed around She-Ra and a baby was placed in her arms. She-Ra looked to her friends with huge eyes. Catra was laughing loudly behind Glimmer. 

“Uh, we heard about the Horde laying siege to your kingdom and we’re here to help,” She paused, looking to Bow and Glimmer for assistance, “We brought food... and supplies... for you.” 

Perfuma wiped a tear off her cheek and cheered out, “Welcome to Plumeria, She-Ra! Come along, I’ll show you all around.”

“Our people have lived here for thousands of years. We're known for our beautiful flowers, our majestic trees.” Wow, those majestic trees sure do look dead... “And this is the Heart-Blossom, the center of our kingdom, and the source of all my magical powers!” 

“Everything is either dead or dying,” Glimmer mumbled, “At least the Heart Blossom is okay! What’s happening to the rest of the plants?”

“We’re going through a bit of a rough patch right now,” Perfuma fiddled with her dress, “But I’m sure the universe will right itself soon! And the She-Ra is here! She can help heal our kingdom.”

“Uhh,” She-Ra looked to Glimmer and whispered, “I can do that?” Glimmer gave her a big smile and a thumbs up.

“I’ve seen her do way weirder stuff,” Catra slung her arm around She-Ra’s broad shoulders, “This’ll be a snap.”

“Yay! We’re just so excited for you to heal our land and bring all the plants back to life,” Perfuma leaned against the Heart Blossom with a grin, “Will you be doing it before the drum circle or after?”

“I-It’s really not that simple,” She-Ra twiddled her thumbs together nervously, “Plus, I’m a bit worried about all that smoke, maybe we should all go investigate.”

“We?” The princess backed up in surprise before holding up her hand and growing a flower right in her palm, “This is my power...” The flower wilted almost instantaneously, “I grow plants! We’re not strong enough to fight against the Horde.”

“Uh,” She-Ra looked to Bow and Glimmer again, “Yes! Healing. That is a thing that... I know how to do. I just need to talk to my friends over here for a moment.” 

She realized that the random baby was still sucking it’s thumb in her arms, she plopped the child into Perfuma’s arms and smiled awkwardly.

“I know what I’m doing!” She ran off with her crew.

—

“I can’t heal anything!” She-Ra shrank in on herself, kneeling to the ground and burying her head in her hands, “I have no idea how to do this.”

“How about you concentrate really hard?” Catra brushed her nails through She-Ra’s hair, her claws scraped at her scalp soothingly, “That seems to work when you have to transform.”

“Okay,” She-Ra stood up and raised the sword above her head. She closed her eyes tightly and concentrated. There was a loud crash and she opened her eyes.

“You, uh, just punched a tree,” Bow scratched the top of his head, “That’s like, the opposite of healing.”

“Ugh, let me try again,” She grunted as she held her sword out and shot a bright blue light through a tree.

“Magic blast!” Glimmer shrieked, “That’s not healing either.”

“I’ll get it this time!” She-Ra raised her sword once again and shut her eyes. There was a loud noise and a clunk. 

“Uh, Adora?” Catra slinked behind her friend and puffed up. She-Ra opened one eye.

“Did I do it?”

“Uh, no? You did something way weirder.”

She-Ra straightened herself up and stared at the creature in front of her. Catra snarled at the creature from the safety of She-Ra’s large figure blocking her.

“What. Is. That.”

“A horse? I have... no clue why it has wings and a horn,” Glimmer walked up to the ‘horse’ and stroked it’s head gently, “You must have some kinda power to turn regular horses into alicorn’s?” She-Ra’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the new animal.

“Uh, okay,” She-Ra eyed the winged horse, “Magical... Transformation?” The horse made a loud noise as it realized it had grown new appendages and flew away clumsily.

“Wait! Horsey!” She-Ra yelled after the horse before groaning.

Catra was puffed up behind She-Ra, her teeth still barred, “I don’t like it.” She-Ra groaned and fell to the ground with a thud. She flickered back to Adora.

“It’s okay, Adora! You’ll get it someday.”

“Someday isn’t good enough! Princess Perfuma expects me to heal her land now. I thought I could be better as She-Ra, but I guess I'm just useless no matter what form I take.” Catra curled her tail around Adora’s shoulders and smiled kindly.

There was a loud explosion, breaking Adora out of her thoughts. She raised her sword to the sky and yelled, “For the honor of Grayskull!” There was a blinding flash of light and she ran to the aid of the townspeople. She-Ra saw Perfuma kneeling at the base of the Heart Blossom, tears in her eyes.

“The Heart-Blossom is dying. Please, She-Ra, heal our land.”

She-Ra’s eyes widened and her heart rate picked up. She approached the large tree and pressed her palm against the runestone set in the center of it. She shut her eyes, concentrating as hard as she possibly could. 

“Please,” She-Ra begged to herself, “Do something.” Vines were growing around the tree trunk, sucking out the tree’s life and killing it quickly. She-Ra fell to the ground and choked back a sob.

“Adora!” Catra sprinted over and cupped She-Ra’s face in her hands.

“I-I can’t do it, Cat,” She-Ra morphed back into Adora, “I’m not the hero everyone wants me to be. I can’t be what they want. I failed.”

“Who are you? What happened to She-Ra?”

Adora looked up to see several disappointed faces staring at her, “I’m Adora. I-I was chosen to carry the sword of She-Ra but I’m new at this and I don’t really know how it works yet.” 

“She’s just a girl!”

“I didn’t mean to deceive you, or-or trick you! I’m still She-Ra, I’m just not the one from your stories,” Adora was on the verge of tears.

“You... You can’t save us,” Perfuma sat down on a nearby tree stump and looked at the ground. Adora’s eyes widened and she looked away quickly. 

There was another explosion from the Horde camp.

Adora’s head jolted up and she got an idea, “Wait! I think I can still save you, I know the Horde. I think they’re using a machine to pollute your land. We have to stop them.”

“No, we can’t fight. We will just rebuild. We have to believe that the universe will repay the Horde for their evil deeds eventually.”

Catra snarled, “The universe won't protect you! You want She-Ra to fix everything, but won't even try to help yourselves? At least Adora's trying.” 

Perfuma looked away, “If She-Ra can’t help us, then no one can. We leave at dawn.” 

The four teens watched as the townspeople walked away. Head hung in shame, Adora finally began crying.

“Adora? Are you okay?”

“I just wanted to help. But all I've done is disappoint an entire kingdom. I'm sorry... I let you all down.”

“Adora,” Catra grabbed her friends arm tightly, “There’s still another way to stop this.” She pointed at the smoke filling the sky with a grin.

“You have a plan, don’t you?” Adora’s lips twitched into a weak smile.

“Always.”

—

“Okay, we need to find the machine. Every Horde camp is laid out the same. Guard duty is in half-hour shifts, so we walk in when the shift changes in three, two, one.”

“Shift change!”

“Finally!” A Horde soldier removed their helmet and sprinted inside after their fellow soldiers, “That went by so slow. I swear, boring shifts go by slower.”

The four walked into a large room, in the center there was a large machine pumping a green goo into the ground.

“You were right! The Horde is poisoning the land.”

Adora’s breath quickens and she raised her sword in the air, “For the honor of Grayskull!” She turned to her friends, “Keep the soldiers away from here, I’ll try to figure out how to destroy this thing.” She-Ra pounced to the top of the machine, ignoring the shouting and horns wailing outside. 

“I’ve never felt so alive!” 

She-Ra looked up to see plants slithering towards the Horde camp. Her eyes widened as she saw Princess Perfuma riding on a wave of bright green vines.

“For... Etheria!” She-Ra plunged her sword into the top of the machine, sending out a shockwave as the goo stopped pumping. 

“Ew! Retreat! Retreat!”

She-Ra hopped down, sprinting out to see if her friends were okay, she sent a grin to Perfuma and said, “You came!” Looking dazed and a little giddy, She-Ra felt a warm glow of pride starting in her chest. Catra let out an excited noise and threw both arms around She-Ra. 

Perfuma smiled, “Thank you so much! You inspired us to save ourselves. How can we ever repay you?”

“Join us in rebuilding the Princess Alliance!”

“Uh,” Perfuma looked around, “Are you sure? Didn’t that go... horribly... the last time?”

“It went horribly for our parents! It’s broken now, but I’m going to fix it. We have a chance to change that and I intend to stop the Horde.” Glimmer's expression was confident and determined as she spoke.

Perfume squealed and threw her arms up, “I accept!” She turned to her people, “Look guys! We’re mighty rebels now!”


	10. yea i’m bored what abt it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i’ve posted way too much today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: 
> 
> flashback

There was a loud crash and a laugh from outside Catra’s room. She looked up to see Adora racing in with a box with Bow and Glimmer in tow. Glimmer collapsed on the ground wheezing with laughter.

“What the hell? Where were you?” Catra watched as Adora plopped the box on the table near her.

“We raided the kitchen!” Bow sat on a chair, “We’re gonna have a sleepover and give you some new snacks!”

Adora’s grin widened and she looked at Catra. She opened the box and showed her friend the pile of new snacks. Her eyes sparkled as she pounced over to Adora.

“Woah,” She looked up as Adora handed her some kind of flat food, “This another kind of pancake?”

“Uhhh,” Adora looked to Glimmer, before whispering, “What’s it called again?”

“That’s a cookie,” Glimmer smiled wildly.

“Ooh,” Catra snatched it from Adora’s hand and bit a small piece off, “Yummy!” Adora grinned and began munching on a cookie as well. 

“I wish the Horde had this food,” Adora said through a mouth of cookie, “Would’ve made it much more fun...”

“Yeah, I definitely won’t miss those ration bars.”

“I won’t miss any part of that horrible place.”

Shame slammed into her as she found the words to not be the total truth. It was so hard for her to hate the Horde. No... It was hard to hate Shadow Weaver. Even after all this time, she still missed the attention. She tried to continue eating. She shoved a big bite of the cookie into her mouth as an excuse not to talk anymore, and immediately regretted it. She swallowed it after some effort, but she had to hide gagging behind her hand. She hid her closed fists in her lap and clenched them so tight she couldn’t feel them. She looked to Catra with wild eyes. Her shoulders shook. She couldn’t take this anymore. It felt like her heart would explode from her chest at any moment.

“Catra-“

“Yeah?” Catra looked over and saw the panic forming in her friends eyes, “Adora?” Adora felt out of control. Her anxiety was reaching its height as Catra raced over to where Adora was sitting. Adora could feel Shadow Weaver’s hands all over her skin. She felt unclean. She felt dirty. She felt exposed and hated this with every cell of her entire being. 

“I-Is she okay?”

“No,” Catra placed her hands on Adora’s arm and squeezed her hand around it, “Just... don’t crowd her.” Adora recoiled as if Catra had moved to strike her, her face scrunched with something that looked like...disgust?

“I don’t wanna go back,” Adora pleaded, “I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna...” Dirty. She felt so incredibly dirty, and it made her sick to the stomach.

Catra gave Adora a soft smile, “We aren’t going back, ‘Dora, we got out. She’s not here anymore.” Adora looked down at Catra. And Catra saw those eyes. Red rimmed, bloodshot and panicked. 

“No, no, no,” Adora hugged her knees to her check and whimpered, “She’s gonna... She’s gonna find me... and use me again.”

“Use you?” Glimmer questioned to herself, “Oh, shit, sorry.” She slapped a hand over her mouth as she saw Adora’s panicked eyes shift to her. Her eyes were wet with tears and her shaking hadn’t stopped.

“Adora, Adora, look at me,” Catra cupped her hands over her friends face and smiled gently at her, “We got out. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I-I’m a thing she used, I’m not a person,” Adora picked at her nail beds, feeling queazy as her own blood trickled out of the edges, “I was just there for her.” She looked down at her hands and saw her blood smeared across her new white shirt. She felt dirty for it. She felt queasy and she felt guilty. She ruined the shirt. The shirt that her new friends spent effort getting for her. And she ruined it.

“No, Adora, you are human,” Catra whispered to her, “You are your own person.”

Glimmer and Bow were watching with wide eyes, seeing Adora’s eyes grow sharper and more in focus as Catra talked her down from her panic. Adora swallowed thickly, grasping Catra’s hands in her own and then began nodding along to what she’s saying. 

“I’m sorry, guys,” Adora looked up to Glimmer and Bow, her eyes red around the rims and cheeks tear stained, “I didn’t mean to... do that.”

“Oh, Adora,” Glimmer fell down into a kneeling position in front of her, “It’s not your fault.” She reached to grab Adora’s hand, but moved back when she saw her recoil. 

Adora laughed nervously and looked away, “Thanks... I guess.”

“If you ever wanna talk,” Bow pulled Glimmer to her feet, “We’re always here.”

“Uh, thanks... again,” Adora looked back up to them, “That means a lot.” She hesitantly reached out her own hand and grabbed Glimmer’s with a nervous sigh, she turned to Bow and grabbed his as well. The small gesture of affection brought tears to both of their eyes.

“Can we...?” Bow held open his arms, asking for a hug. Adora was reluctant. She wanted to hug them. She wanted that closeness so much. So she nodded. Bow and Glimmer laughed and attacked her with a huge bear hug. Adora chuckled and squeezed them closer.

Catra slinked around Adora, curling her tail around her waist and purring loudly into her ear. Adora’s lips twitched into a small smile.

—

Adora woke up with a tail wrapped around her waist and a body resting against her. She looked down and saw Bow snoring while leaning against her knee, a fuzzy blanket draped carelessly over her and Catra. chuckled and looked around for Glimmer, who was sleeping against Bow’s side with her hand grasping his arm. She could feel Catra purring loudly against her side in her sleep. Her smile widened as she nuzzled closer to Catra. She chuckled as Bow awoke and stretched with a grunt. 

“Morning,” Adora mumbled, making sure she doesn’t wake anyone up, “I’m surprised anyone fell asleep with how loud you snore.”

Bow gasped, holding a hand to the heart plastered on his outfit, “I do not snore!” 

“Yeah, right,” Adora smirked and tightened the arm wrapped Catra’s shoulders. pulling her closer. 

“Hmmpff,” Glimmer shifted and her eyes fluttered open slowly, “Ughhhh.”

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Bow poked her cheek, “Rise and shine!”

Glimmer pulled her blanket over her head, “Ughhhh, it’s too early... Five more m’nutes...”

“We have a mission today, Glim,” Bow groaned, “You gotta wake up.”

“Urg,” Glimmer sat up fully and looked up at Adora, “Fine, has the kitty awoken yet?”

Adora slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh, “N-No, not yet.”

“Don’ call m’kitty,” Catra slurred out. 

“But you let me call you kitty,” Adora pouted, scratching behind Catra’s left ear.

“Mmmmrrrp,” Catra mewed, wiggling into Adora’s touch, “You’re the only one who can call me that.”

“Thank you, kitty,” Adora giggled, pressing her lips to her friends cheek.

Catra grumbled, “Not in front of other people, dummy.”

Adora grinned before turning to Glimmer once again, “When’s the mission begin?”

“My mom will come get us when it’s time,” She yawned before jumping up and grabbing the box still sitting on the table nearby, “We can eat the rest of the cookies in the meantime!” 

Catra’s eyes widened and she snatched a cookie and began nibbling at the side. Adora smiled fondly at her friend and hugged her knees to her chest. The four teens sat down together and began joking and laughing together. Adora felt lighter than she had in years, she was surrounded by friends. Her friends. Adora’s smile widened and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

“Adora? Are you okay?” Catra asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Adora nodded, “I think I actually am.”

Catra grinned at her and turned back to the others.

—

Catra hated Sea Hawk. With every cell in her body. She wanted to grab him and throw him overboard and laugh as he choked on the salty sea water. But they needed a boat. And given that Adora was currently completely murdering Sea Hawk in arm wrestling, he would probably be the one taking them to Salineas.

Oh. And now he was singing.

This day couldn’t get any worse. Catra was just trying to keep her breakfast down as Sea Hawk’s voice reverberated throughout her skull. Adora also looked miserable as Sea Hawk sang and sang. Bow was busy staring admirably at the annoying man and Glimmer was watching the sea from up above. So, Catra nuzzled herself under Adora’s arm and wiggled angrily into her side. Adora’s hand went to scratch Catra behind the ears and she began purring rather quickly. The seasickness and annoyance that was in her body just a minute ago had washed away in the waves below them. 

When they reached the Salineas throne room, Catra immediately knew she liked Mermista.

“Princess! Oh, it's been too long. I have dreamed of you night and day since we parted.”

“UUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHHH,” Mermista let out a long dramatic groan, “Ewww, who let him back in here? And who are you?“ Her left eyebrow raised as she looked at the crew trudging along behind him.

Glimmer straightened herself out and fixed her posture before holding her hand out for a handshake, “My name is Glimmer of Bright Moon. We've... uh... never met, but our parents fought in the Rebellion together.”

“Oh, right,” Mermista yawned into her hand and slouched down onto her throne, ignoring the hand Glimmer had outstretched, “My dad said that was a complete disaster.” Glimmer tried to recover from that by moving her outstretched hand to brush through her hair and she laughed nervously.

“Tough crowd,” Catra sneered. Glimmer sent her a growl.

Sea Hawk sat on the arm of the throne and cleared his throat, “I didn't think it was possible but your beauty grows greater with each passing day-“

Mermista groaned, “Will you fuck off? I’m trying to talk to my new friend Glitter.”

Glimmer’s eyes narrowed and she stood up a bit straighter, “Actually it’s- Never mind.”

“Butler,” Mermista turned to her guard, who quickly put down their staff and draped a cloth over their arm, “Can you get us some hors-d’oeuvres?”

“Ooooooh!” Sea Hawk trilled, “Hors-d’oeurves!”

“Hmmmmm... For everyone but Sea Hawk,” Mermista decided, pushing the man off her throne and onto the floor. 

“Your guard is also your butler?” Bow questioned.

“Yeah... We’re, like, a bit understaffed right now,” Mermista grabbed her staff and walked to a window, “Everyone fled because the Sea Gate is falling apart or whatever.”

“What?!” Glimmer, Bow, Catra, and Adora all exclaimed.

She scoffed, “I know, right? It’s, like, so convenient that I was the one who inherited a kingdom that’s, like, dying— I’m... I’m totally handling though. It’s just a bit unfortunate because the Horde will, like, not stop attacking us.”

Adora flinched at the mention of the Horde, but began to speak, “The Hor- They are why we’re here. We want to rebuild the Princess Alliance. We can’t defeat them on our own, but together? We might stand a chance.”

Mermista chuckled darkly, “Yeah, cause that went so incredibly amazing the last time. Why should I help Bright Moon anyway, you guys haven’t done anything to, like, help us.”

“Mermista, if I may-“ Sea Hawk began to hum a shanty. Mermista splashed a handful of water into his face.

“No,” Mermista groaned, “No more shanties,” she turned to the rest of the crew, “Why did you bring him here? He is so annoying.”

Catra snickered, “I thought you said she liked you?”

Sea Hawk smiled nervously, “We have a complicated past.”

Just a half an hour later, they were fighting the Horde. She-Ra was trying hard to mend the Salineas sea gate as Glimmer and Bow fought. Catra was sticking near She-Ra, making sure no soldiers approached her. She grumbled to herself as she smacked a Horde soldier that was trying to climb to She-Ra. The soldier smacked a floating boulder on the way down, making Catra laugh. She turned to see a flaming boat smash into the Horde ship. Catra cheered and punched the air as the sea gate mended itself. 

“Great job, ‘Dora,” Catra purred, hugging her friend.


	11. entrapta time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m watching she-ra rn and every time i watch a spot that i wrote about, i’m like ‘wow imagine that but with CATRA?’

“Princess Entrapta will be a total catch for the Rebellion. My mother is going to be so impressed!” Glimmer was rambling again. 

“Uh, I'm all for impressing Angella, but why is Entrapta so important?”

“She's a brilliant inventor. She makes robots and rehabs old tech left by the First Ones. She's a pretty big deal in the Etherian makers community.”

“Seriously, Arrow boy? The Etherian makers community?” Catra snorted out a laugh.

“Excuse me, Catra, I am a part of it,” He proudly pointed to his shiver full of arrows, “I dabble in gadgetry myself.”

“Umm,” Adora turned to Glimmer, “I’m confused, what does that mean?”

“It means, if we convince Entrapta to join the Rebellion, she'll invent all sorts of cool junk for us,” Glimmer squealed, “And then we'll finally have weapons that can stand up to the Horde's!”

“Yeah!” Bow reached into his bag of arrows and pulled one out, “Like my arrows! They’re trick arrows and I recently made new ones, since I was running out.”

“What do they do?” Adora was intrigued.

Bow’s eyes lit up, “This one is a stun arrow. This one is an emergency flare. And this one, this one's just pointy. And here is my newest one. Sonic arrow!” He struck a pose with the sonic arrow raised to the sky.

Catra laughed, “When will we ever need a sonic arrow?”

“If we have to wake up really early?” Glimmer giggled.

“Or-Or if we get separated in a crowd?” Adora piped up, speaking through her laugh. The three walked ahead, laughing and pushing each other teasingly. 

“Separated in a croooowd,” Bow mocked, “I bet Entrapta will like my trick arrows...” He followed after the others.

—

The four came across a large pile of boulders. Bow hushed the others and grabbed Glimmer’s arm.

“Must have been a rock slide. Any loud sound could cause another slide. We need to be as quiet as-“

“FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!”

Bow whimpered as Adora transformed. She-Ra swung her sword and cleared the path, destroying the boulders and creating a safe place to walk. 

She-Ra grinned, “Ha HA! I think I’m getting the hang of this!”

“Adora! That was incredibly dangerous,” Bow’s hands were clamped over his forehead.

“Well, it worked, what’s the big deal?”

“You can’t just use magic to bust through everything, you could’ve caused another rockslide!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t,” She-Ra crosses her arms and turned away from Bow, “I’ve spent my entire life without powers, I’m not going to stop using them now.” Bow groaned and followed after the others once again.

The four approached Dryl, looking up to see lightning striking the top of the tallest building in the kingdom. 

“Whoaaa, she’s got lightning?” Bow’s eyes sparkled, “That is so cool!”

Glimmer disappeared and reappeared in a cloud of glitter several feet away, “Something isn’t right, the distress beacon is lit. They must be under attack.”

“But I thought the... Horde... hasn’t gone near this area yet?” Catra hesitated on that word, taking a glance over to She-Ra, and seeing her wince slightly but gain her composure back only seconds later. She-Ra, sword at the ready, and Catra started to run inside.

“No, no, Adora! Be careful!” Bow yelled, reaching his arm out. A trap on the ground opened, revealing a pit full of sharp metal spikes. He watched the others run inside after She-Ra. Bow grumbled and began to inspect the trap.

She-Ra wrapped her arms around herself and grumbled.

“Hey,” A small hand rested itself on her arm. She-Ra looked down to see Catra with concern in her eyes.

“Huh?”

“You okay, ‘Dora?”

She-Ra grunted slightly, “This place feels... wrong... I don’t know how to explain it. It... It must be nothing.” 

There was a loud bang and they looked around. 

“Hey!” She-Ra pointed her sword out, “Who’s there?”

“Princess Entrapta? Hello? We’re here to... uh... recruit you for the Rebellion!” Glimmer yelped, feeling a hand grasp her leg. She looked down to see a severed metal hand on the ground. Glimmer leaned down and picked it up, before throwing it to the ground when it attempted to crawl up her arm.

“That is so wrong,” Catra deadpanned.

“Okay! Okay! We need to be very careful,” Bow ran up to them, “Entrapta set traps all around the castle...” Pause. “They’re supposed to be super cool.” A loud boom and a rumble shook the castle.

“They’re coming! Get out of the square!”

The four whipped around to see a small gremlin poking their head out of the sewer.

She-Ra ran up as the random person retreated into the sewer once again, “Who’s coming? Is it the Horde?” Wince.

“Hello? Come back!” Glimmer yelled, banging on the manhole cover, “Uhh, guys? We should probably run away from whatever is making that noise...”

She-Ra looked around before spotting an empty hallway. She grabbed Catra’s arm, “Follow me.” The four of them raced to hide in the hallway, but stopped in their tracked when Bow let out a gasp.

“Wha-“ She-Ra turned to Bow before spotting a robot emerging from the shadows. She-Ra sliced one arm clean off and backed up as Bow shot a stun arrow into the bots mainframe. Bow leaned down and searched through the robots remains. 

“Looks like one of Entrapta’s designs,” Bow mumbled to himself, “Why would it try to hurt us?” He turned to see Glimmer and Catra standing in front of a door, watching She-Ra swing her sword around with admiration.

“Alright, stand back,” She went to plunge her sword into the door to pry it open, but instead, all three of them fell through the floor. She-Ra landed onto the metal floor first, groaning as Glimmer, then Catra, plopped on top of her. 

She-Ra pushed the others off of her, looking around to see that they were stuck in a barred cage. 

“Ugh,” Catra grumbled, taking the hand that She-Ra held out for her and pulled herself up, “One of her trap things.”

Glimmer gasped, “Bow! He’s all alone with those thing! Here, I’ll teleport us out.” She grabbed onto She-Ra and Catra. They appeared in a small hallway.

“Is this out?” Catra teased.

“Ugh,” Glimmer concentrated again and they appeared on the top of the castle.

She-Ra and Glimmer screamed, while Catra snickered at the two next to them. I guess she didn’t share their fear of heights. Glimmer teleported them again, and now they were very conveniently falling right towards a big metal machine. This time Catra screamed, hugging onto She-Ra as Glimmer teleported them back inside.

Catra flattened her hair, “No more teleporting for now... please.”

“Good idea,” Glimmer breathed heavily.

A light clinking sound came from in front of them, and their heads jolted up to see a dark ominous figure pull itself over of an air vent.

“Ugh, not again,” Glimmer groaned, holding her fists out and conjuring up bright balls of glitter.

The figure approached, light suddenly hit it’s face and it was... a person?

“Princesses! I’m saved!” The woman’s voice was nasal and loud. Catra flattened her ears to her head and hissed quietly at the loud noise.

“Princess... Entrapta?” She-Ra mumbled.

“Uh... So good to see you! I hope you don’t get mad but we kinda... let ourselves in...” Glimmer explained.

“And then we let ourselves out of your cage... trap... thing,” Catra scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

“Welcome to Dryl!” Entrapta began to move around, her long purple hair acting as extra limbs as she walked, “Things are usually super fun around here but right now it’s all gotten a teensy bit deadly.” 

The princess began leading them somewhere unknown, she turned around to face them while walking backwards, “You’re lucky I found you. I designed the castle as a labyrinth...” She paused and looked around, “And I'm the only one who can navigate it.” She banged into a wall and rubbed her forehead with a frown.

“Can you... help us find our friend?” Glimmer asked, hopeful.

“Absolutely!”

“Are you sure about that?” Catra sneered, looking around and seeing a very familiar painting, “Didn’t we pass this picture already?”

“Oh! Isn’t it adorable?” Entrapta looked at it, then looked around the hallway, “You might be right. I usually have my electronic map to get around. But, well, like my bots it's sort of evil right now.” 

“Yeah, speaking of which-“ Glimmer began.

“Why’d you invent killer robots?” Catra crossed her arms.

Entrapta shifted her eyes to Catra, then to She-Ra, “You’re abnormally tall...” She pulled out a measuring tape and began to look at She-Ra’s height, “Hello! I like your sword. It’s First One’s tech, right? Can I touch it?” She was already reaching out a hand when She-Ra moved quickly and slapped the princess’s hand away.

“Uh, thanks, yes, and uh, no, not right now,” She-Ra stammered. She didn’t want any random strangers touching her or her stuff. But it seemed as if this woman didn’t understand that She-Ra was uncomfortable and just moved away without an apology. Catra lay a hand on She-Ra’s arm.

“And, uh, about the killer robots?” Glimmer asked.

“They didn't start out that way. Usually they're super useful. They do almost everything for me. Cleaning, filing, basic hygiene.” Catra and She-Ra looked at each other in disgust. “Oh, and they're sound activated! Here, I'll show you!”

Entrapta clapped twice. Glimmer teleported next to her and grasped her hands to stop her.

“Can we maybe not call the killer robots towards us?”

A loud bang came from in front of them and a large robot began to pursue them. 

“Isn’t it adorable?” Entrapta laughed.

Glimmer grabbed the princess’s hair and pulled her to run away, “Run!” The group began running down the hallway, only stopping once the bot got stuck behind a beam in the ceiling. The bot roared in frustration. She-Ra screamed, clamping her hand sober her ears and falling to her knees.

“It’s trying to talk!”

“Adora!” Catra fell to her side, “Whatever it’s saying, it cannot be good!”

“Make. It. Stop...” She-Ra yelled out.

‘Make what stop?” Catra said gently, reaching for She-Ra’s hands.

Glimmer started yelling at Entrapta as she jumped onto the bot, tape recorder in hand, “Bot 329 is attempting to communicate...” Catra and Glimmer both focused on She-Ra as she screamed and covered her ears.

“Oh no! Bad bot!” Entrapta yelled. The three of them looked up to see a long purple pigtail caught in the bot’s cleaning brush.

She-Ra grunted in pain and stood up, “Princess!” She jumped up to where Entrapta was and pierced her sword into the bot, defeating it instantly. A pulsating red vein began to grow out of the swords runestone, which had become red as well. She began to attack the bot, hitting the head of the bot repeatedly.

“Adora!” Catra yelled, climbing up the robot and trying to pry the sword from She-Ra’s rock solid grip. Red veins began to inch their way up She-Ra’s arm, tying her to the sword. 

Glimmer teleported next to her and tried to take the sword, “She-Ra! Stop!”

“Turn it off! Turn it off!” Catra begged, finally yanking the sword out of her friends grip and throwing it across the hallway. She-Ra gasped and fell backwards, becoming Adora. Glimmer caught Adora, teleporting her safely to the ground. 

—

“Adora! Adora, please wake up, please!” Catra pleaded, shaking Adora awake.

Entrapta was rambling into her tap recorder again, “The tall one seems infected too,” Catra twitched her ear in the directed of the princess, “It turned less tall,” Entrapta stopped in front of Glimmer, “How does it work?”

“She’s not an it, she’s my friend!” Glimmer glared at her.

Catra snarled before speaking, “What do you mean she’s infected too?”

“Oh, it really is very fascinating. I've been experimenting with a disc that was recovered from a mine right here in Dryl! It was a game-changer. It held more complete First One's code than anything I've ever seen before. But it seems to have reacted with the First Ones tech that powers my bots. It infected them with some sort of a... virus.”

“Why would that infect She-Ra then?” Glimmer asked.

“Well, we’d have to dissect her first...” She pulled out a small knife, “But since the sword is First One’s tech, it must’ve spread to her through that!”

“First, you're not taking her apart. She is a person! Second, if we destroy this disc, will that turn off the bots and stop the virus?”

Entrapta’s eyes widened, “Destroy it? But the experiment isn’t complete yet!”

“I think we can safely say this experiment is a failure!” Catra growled, unsheathing her claws.

“But what if it’s no-“ Entrapta looked to the destroyed bot in front of them, “No, you’re right, it’s a failure.”

Catra looked down at Adora and watched her eyes flutter open, “Adora!”

Adora flopped her head around to look at Catra, “Catra! There’s two of you. That’s nice.”

Catra was taken aback, “How are you feeling?”

“Increbidile,” She laughed drunkenly at her mispronunciation and began repeating the word over and over before turning to Catra again, “Why are we whispering?”

“Sound activates the robots,” Glimmer piped in.

“What ROBOTS?” Adora yelled. Catra would’ve laughed if they were in serious danger.

“The ones that are attacking us!” Catra slapped a hand over Adora’s mouth.

“Oh, those robots,” She said behind Catra’s hand, “Okay, m’gonna take a nap now.” She leaned back and closed her eyes.

“No!” Glimmer exclaimed, “Stay awake, we have to go to Entrapta's lab and destroy this disc thing and then you'll be all better again.”

“Better?” Adora lifted her head back up and touched her nose to Glimmer’s- Catra ignore the anger bubbling in her chest -and spoke again, “I’m fine! I’m She-Ra!” She laughed again and threw her head back, “Hi, Glimmer.”

“Come on, she’s getting worse,” Catra looked to Entrapta, “We have to get to your lab.”

—

“Oh, we made it,” Entrapta was surprised, “I mean, uh, of course we’re here. We were never lost.” Entrapta went to put in the passcode and got electrocuted by a large shock of light.

“Adora, stop,” Catra mumbled, pulling Adora’s hand away so she didn’t touch the electrified princess.

“Wow, the door is infected too, it won't let us in. That is so smart. And awful. We're all going to die.”

“Ugh,” Glimmer groaned, “Fine, I’ll just teleport into the lab.”

“Ooooh, teleportation? Tell me everything,” Entrapta pulled out a notepad and sat down on a hair chair.

“Yeah... Maybe later, when robots aren’t like, taking over the planet.”

“It’s a date!”

Catra chuckled and set Adora onto the ground gently. Glimmer teleported into the room and Catra heard screams and banging.

“Glimmer!” Catra screamed, her heart rate picked up and she banged on the metal door. Glimmer teleported out, her hair was messed up and her clothes had gotten ripped.

“That was not a good plan,” Glimmer’s eyes were wide, “There were so many bots, I couldn’t even get near the disc.”

Suddenly, the group was surrounded by robots. Red eyes were gleaming through the shadows as they approached the crew. 

“Incredible development, the bots seem to be working together to murder us!” Entrapta laughed manically into her recorder.

“That doesn’t seem like a good thing right now!” Catra hissed, showing her fangs.

A large cloud of smoke filled the room and there was a loud clang. Bow ran through the smoke and smiled at the group.

“Bow!”

“Yay! There’s a rainbow!” Adora cheered, her head lulling onto Catra’s shoulder. Catra laughed at that one.

Three new people began attacking the bots with nothing but bottles of fizzy drinks and cloth napkins. Catra’s eyebrows raised as she watched the new group of allies fight the robots. 

Once all the robots were dead on the floor, Glimmer ran up and gave Bow a tight hug.

“Bow! You’re okay! We were so worried!” Glimmer let him go after a few seconds, allowing him to approach Princess Entrapta.

“Big fan of your work, Princess Entrapta. Uh, maybe not this work, exactly, but your other work,” Bow rambled, kicking a dead bot nearby.

“Hi,” Entrapta held out a piece of her hair and Bow moved to kiss it politely. 

“Hiiii,” Adora giggled, standing up by herself now.

“Uh, you okay, Adora?”

“Oh yeah! I’m totally-“ Adora collapsed to the ground with a snort, Catra caught her and held her up.

Glimmer began to explain, “Entrapta was experimenting with First One's tech, and it infected all of her machines with some kind of virus, and She-Ra's sword got infected to and made Adora all, ughhhh, weird. I teleported into the lab and it's full of bots and maybe we She-Ra we'd have a chance, but without her... it's hopeless.”

“We don’t need She-Ra! We can do this together,” Bow’s eyebrows narrowed and he put on a confident grin as he looked to the three new people who had joined.

“Hey, aren’t you my kitchen staff?” 

—

The four were walking back to Bright Moon after a successful mission of recruiting a Princess Entrapta to the Princess Alliance. 

Glimmer turned her head to Bow and finally spoke, “So, maybe you had a point before.”

“Whaaat? I’m sorry, did you say something? I didn’t hear you!” Bow teased.

Glimmer grumbled so Adora took over, “I think what Glimmer is trying to say is that your sonic arrow was a great idea.”

“Aww, really?” Bow crossed his arms and smirked, “Is that what you were trying to say Glimmer? That I was right?”

“Yes, it was brilliant! You were totally right, okay?” Glimmer rubbed a fist on Bow’s scalp playfully.

Adora stopped walking, “If you hadn't come, the bots would have gotten us for sure. And, I didn't know that She-Ra could get sick like that.” She turned to Catra with wide eyes, “What if it happens again?”

“It won’t. It can’t! We destroyed the She-Ra hating disc for good,” Bow smiled kindly at her.

“Good,” Adora began to walk with the group again, “I never want to feel like that again.”

Glimmer looked around for something to cheer Adora up, “Hey, oh, look at that rock just staring at us. How rude! Boy, that rock really needs smashing. And since She-Ra's not sick anymore, she should probably smash it!”

A smile spread on Adora’s face and raised her sword, “For the honor of Grayskull!” She destroyed the rock sitting on the side of the cliff with a grin. She turned to Catra and Bow, who were both staring at her with a exasperated expression.

“Really?” Catra crosses her arms.

“What? It’s practice,” Adora defended, moving towards the group and walking alongside Glimmer the rest of the way.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for posting so many chapters today,, but i’m not gonna stop because i have way too many chapters to post :)

Bow yawned, sitting up in Glimmer’s room. His eyes widened as he looked outside at the gorgeous sky. He hopped up, pulled his quiver over his shoulder and jumped up to Glimmer’s bed. 

“Good morning, Glimmer,” He rested his elbow on the edge of her bed.

“Noooo,” She pressed a pillow over her face, “It’s too early, five more hours.”

“But it’s such a beautiful day!”

“Today's cancelled,” Glimmer grumbled, “Go back to bed.”

Bow stared at her.

“I can feel you staring at me. Why is it the one who snores is always the first one to fall asleep?”

“Stop saying I snore! I do not snore!”

“Ugh, let’s go check on the others,” Glimmer sat up, her eyes half closed as she teleported to the floor.

Bow heard a beep come from his tracker pad, “Wait, Glimmer.”

“What?” Glimmer groaned, teleporting to him.

“There’s bots in the Whispering Woods,” Bow looked closer at his pad, “They’re not too far from here.”

Glimmer’s eyes widened and she grabbed his arm, teleporting him into Catra and Adora’s room. The two were already awake and Adora was getting dressed. 

“Woah! A warning next time! Please,” Adora quickly finished pulling on a clean shirt. She hated feeling exposed, she felt her hands clench up and her heart beat quicken. She hadn’t had a panic attack in weeks. She was not about to have one because of something as stupid as this. She cursed herself out in her head. A small hand met hers and squeezed it. Catra was staring at her with kind eyes.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Glimmer and Bow apologized.

“I-It’s fine,” Adora felt herself calming down by squeezing Catra’s hand back, “What’s going on?”

“Bots in the woods,” Bow turned the tracker pad towards them, “Lots of them, probably about ten.”

“How fun,” Catra grabbed a staff and put it in her belt. Adora grumbled and followed after the others, sliding her sword into the sheath on her back. 

—

The four of them trudged through the crowded brush of the woods.

“The bots should be close,” Bow mumbled. Catra twitched her ears, searching for the sound of metal. 

“That way,” Catra pointed a clawed finger to their left, “There’s sound coming from that way.” The group began to head towards the noise. A twig snapped nearby, making Adora pull out her sword. Bow pushed a dense hanging plant away from his face and signaled for the others to follow him. Adora dodged a green blast– which had erupted through the trees –and made a dash for the source of the laser.

Adora raised her sword, “For the honor of Grayskull!” She began to sprint off even faster in the same direction as before, holding her sword out in front of her menacingly. Glimmer teleported onto a large rock just ahead of Adora with a flash of sparkles before running as well. Bow sprinted in after them, he notched an arrow onto his bow. Readying himself for the coming fight. 

“Where the hell is this thin-” Catra snarled, only to be cut off when a large bot decided to make itself known. It charged towards the four of them, catapulting Bow and Glimmer in one direction and Catra and Adora in the other. 

“Bow! Glimmer!” She-Ra voice boomed through the woods, she turned her aggression towards the robot. She let out a loud war-cry and sliced the bot clean in half. Catra’s eyes widened and her cheeks burned as she watched She-Ra stand over the remains of the robot. Glowing blue eyes locked onto her own and her throat almost closed up. Her stare was intense, and the corner of her lip twitched up into something that looked like a smirk. She turned around and ran through the brush once again. The three others stood and started to run after She-Ra.

“Adora!” Catra yelled but groaning. Adora really has to stop running into battle without signaling the others. A Horde bot exploded in the distance, sending rampant sparks flying towards the three who were still far behind She-Ra. Then there was a cry of pain and a blast. 

“Adora!” Glimmer disappeared in a burst of sparkles. Catra’s eyes widened and she got down on all fours and jumped through the branches. 

“Adora?”

“Adora!” Catra tried again.

No response.

Then she spotted an arm sticking out from behind a bush at an awkward angle and her stomach dropped.

“Adora!”

Adora was sprawled out on the ground in front of a   
large rock. Her ponytail had unraveled and blonde hair had fallen all over her face. 

Worst of all, she was passed out.

“Shit,” Catra pounced at the bots that were nearing her seemingly lifeless friend and clawed out their core processing units with one punch, “Adora,” she shook her friend’s shoulders as Bow and Glimmer appeared behind her and took out the rest of the bots.

Catra checked for a pulse, for breathing, for anything . 

Then she finally felt it, a slow heartbeat pumping in Adora’s chest. She heaved out a sigh of relief. The irregular heartbeat was a bad sign, but at least she was still alive. Catra combed her claws through Adora’s hair, picking out the twigs and leaves that were littered throughout her blond strands. She pulled her hand away and saw red coating her palm. Her hand began to tremble. Catra attempted to hoist Adora’s limp body onto her back, but quickly collapsed. Bow and Glimmer rushed over and assisted in carrying Adora back to Bright Moon. 

—

Catra rested a hand on her friend’s peaceful face, brushing the dirt away from under her eyes. Adora was passed out on their bed, limp and lifeless. 

This was too much.

It had been a long day for everyone, Catra especially. The walk home had been silent, a mix of tension and overwhelming relief whenever they heard a raspy breath come from Adora. Nobody had said anything, presumably for her sake.

Catra got up, ready walk across the room. She couldn’t look at Adora in that state anymore.

But just then, a weak voice called out for her.

“Catra?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:
> 
> flashback

“Catra?”

Catra whipped around to look at Adora, seeing her bright blue eyes staring at her. 

“What... happened?” She sat up and groaned, grabbing her head in pain. Catra sprinted over and put her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“Stay on the bed,” She ordered, “You have to rest.”

Adora nodded, laying back down. Her head was throbbing and she was in desperate need of some real sleep. Adora’s eyes were still locked on Catra. She looked miserable. Her voice was heavy and raspy with sleep deprivation. 

“Are you okay?”

Catra looked at her with a dumbfounded expression, “Am I okay?” She laughed angrily, “You ran right into battle without a second thought and got hit in the head.” 

“Yeah? But you look really tired,” Adora looked away, “I just... want to know if you’re okay.” 

“Adora! You can’t just rush into battle like that! You may be She-Ra but that doesn’t mean you’re immortal,” Catra pleaded with her friend, grabbing her arms and shaking her gently, “You have to have a team! You needed backup!” Adora pushed Catra away, standing up straight with a fierce expression on her face. She faltered slightly, moving to grab her head, but she stopped herself and stood up taller.

“I am not weak,” Adora snarled at the girl in front of her, “I can take care of myself.”

“Adora, I don’t think you’re weak,” Catra tried to reach for Adora, “But no one, not even She-Ra, can take on ten bots at once.” But Adora stepped back.

“I can see how you look at me when someone mentioned the Horde,” Adora’s voice wavered, “You think I might break any second.”

“Because you might!”

“See! This is exactly what I mean,” Adora’s voice was exasperated, “You think you need to protect me constantly.”

“I do,” Catra looked into Adora’s eyes, those eyes, “I protect you, and you protect me!”

Adora laughed, “Yeah sure.”

“You’re one to talk,” Catra snapped, “You know how much she abused me and hurt me, you never protected me! You never helped, not in any way that would put you on her bad side!”

“I was helping in the only way I could,” Adora’s face fell, “I-I tried to stop her.”

“Yeah? And how did you do that?” Catra laughed.

Adora looked away, unable to keep up their eye contact, “...I... I can’t tell you.”

“See? This is what I mean,” Catra’s gaze was harsh, “You don’t realize how good you had it there. I have scars and what were you left with?”

Adora’s eyes narrowed, “What was I left with? You want to know what I was left with?”

Catra’s hand slapped over her mouth once she realized what she said, “Adora, I-“

“I was left with nightmares and flashbacks,” Adora choked back a sob, “I can’t do anything without thinking about her. I can’t take a shower without feeling like my own hands are hers. I can’t even look in the mirror. You aren’t the only one with scars. Most of mine are just not visible. I can always feel her.”

“Adora, I wasn’t thinking when I said that, I’m so sor-“

Adora squeezed her eyes shut, “Then why would you ever say it? You must’ve been thinking it.” She just couldn’t deal with Catra right now. She couldn’t deal with anything right now. The weight of Etheria, the weight of _everything_ , was too heavy on her shoulders. She turned around and ran out, ignoring Catra’s shouts to rest.

“Adora!” 

She ignored Catra’s pleads for her to return. She swallowed down her cries and wails as she approached her friends door. She hesitated before raising her fist and knocking thrice.

There was a sparkling noise and then the door opened slightly, “Adora! You’re awake!” Glimmer’s face dropped as she watched as Adora fall to her knees, sobs racking her body. She can almost hear the condescending lilt to Shadow Weaver’s voice rattling around her brain. Sometimes she wanted to just take her dumb sword and stab it through her dumb chest to rid herself of all her dumb pain. 

Glimmer reached out to bring Adora into her room, she placed her hand every so gently on her shoulder and tried to lead her inside. Every slight touch or softly spoken word caused Adora to shrink away as if she was trying to hide from Glimmer.

“Adora? What happened?” 

Adora’s only reply was a strangled sob that broke Glimmer’s heart.

“Adora, _Adora_ , look at me,” Glimmer gave her a gentle smile, “Bow... he’s in my room, are you comfortable having him in there with you?” Adora nodded her head as she heaved in raspy breaths. 

“Adora?” A boys voice carried over to them from across the room, “ _Oh_ , Adora,” Bow took Adora’s hand and lead her to a chair.

Adora curled in on herself, trying to ignore Glimmer and Bow’s worried gaze that was on her every few seconds. Her throat hurt so bad. She felt worthless. She felt _weak_. 

Glimmer teared up as she watched her friend hide behind her hands. She stood up and help her arms out, silently asking if it’s okay to hug her. Adora was frozen for a few seconds, but then she let everything go. She clung to Glimmer and let her tears run freely down her face. They only parted when Adora had to wipe her face clean of tears.

The silence in the air was deafening. Bow moved to sit on the sofa next to Adora’s chair. Adora tried looking away. Bow opened his mouth before closing it again. Glimmer was the next to speak.

“Look... We don’t have any idea what you went through, but we want to be able to help you and… I don’t know… I don’t really know how to do that. We-“ Glimmer’s expression changed to a stern expression, as if she suddenly began masking her emotions. “Adora, I want to be there for you... We both want to be there, so _please_ , let us be here for you and tell us what happened.” Her eyes started to water. “And I can tell you hate talking about emotions and shit,” Adora laughed gently at that, “Especially with people you met only a month ago... but I want to help you and... I don’t know how to do that without knowing what you went through.”

Adora was dumbfounded by her speech, she reached a trembling hand over and placed it on a her friends, “Okay.” Glimmer’s eyes widened and stared at Adora. 

“Wait, really?” 

Adora laughed, “Yes...” She paused, “it will... take a while to talk about it though.”

“That’s okay,” Glimmer smiled, “I’m here for as long as you need.”

“Thank you,” Adora choked out.

“What happened today?” Bow popped into the conversation.

“Catra and I... got in a fight... she said some,” Adora looked down, “ _Stuff_.”

“What did she say?” Glimmer said softly, “If you’re comfortable with saying, of course.”

Adora wasn’t, but she should open up someday, “She basically said that... since she was physically abused... my abuse wasn’t as bad because mine didn’t leave any scars.”

Glimmer’s eyes widened, “ _Catra_ said that? The same Catra that kisses your forehead and sleeps in your arms? That one?” 

Adora laughed, but it was a sad, broken laugh, “Yeah, I never thought she would hurt me like that... She apologized a lot, said she didn’t mean it.”

“Do you think she did?”

“I think she believes it deep down,” Adora mumbled, “In the Horde, she always was jealous of how our... commander favored me... I wish she didn’t favor me.”

Glimmer looked away.

“I’m sure you already have an idea of what happened,” Adora murmured, “I’m sure I’ve said... stuff... during my episodes.”

“I didn’t want to assume.”

Adora took a deep breath and pushed down the lump forming in her throat, “My... primary caretaker...? Or... uh... the person I viewed as a mother...” She choked back a sob.

“It’s okay, Adora, you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to.”

“No, I should open up to people more,” Adora allowed a single tear to drip off her chin, “She would... t-touch me, and make me touch... myself... and she would watch...”

Glimmer hand rested on Adora’s arm, making her wince, “I’m sorry!” Adora stared hard into the floor, eyes somehow even more bloodshot than before and her face splotchy and red. Glimmer had started talking again, but Adora couldn’t hear it. Adora had curled her knees up to her chest and started hugging them, eyes glazed over in thought. Her chest was full of ice cold dread. 

Glimmer touched Adora’s arm, making her flinch violently, “Adora, are you still with us?”

Adora looked up wildly, “No, no it was... it‘s... it’s all my fault... I’m not supposed to tell... I shouldn’t have told you...”

The air felt thick, Adora was underwater and Glimmer was scared to move. Glimmer reached her hand out to touch Adora’s shoulder but thought better of it, retracting it slowly. 

“I-I wasn’t supposed to tell,” Adora was panicking by now, she launched herself up onto her feet and scrambled away from Glimmer, “She’s gonna find out... She’s gonna... S-She’ll hurt Catra.” 

“Adora,” Bow said gently, “It’s not your fault.” Adora fell to the floor at those words and backed herself into a corner. 

“No-“ Adora covered her face and cried out, “It is... it’s all my fault... I let her touch me, I encouraged her.”

“Who is... her?”

There was a long silent pause.

“Adora.”

Adora looked at the two of them with wet eyes, “Shadow Weaver.”

Glimmer snarled, a ball of sparkles appearing in a closed fist, “I’m going to _kill_ her.” Her stomach with clenched with nausea. How long did Adora have to endure this? How old was Adora when this started? What technique would Glimmer and Bow use to murder Shadow Weaver? 

“T-Thank you for sharing,” Glimmer stood a few feet away from where Adora was crying. She felt like gagging but swallowed the feeling down thickly. 

“I... I’ve gotta go... I’ve gotta find Catra,” Adora voice trembled as she stood and sprinted out of the room.

The pair of teens were frozen in place as the weight in the air became thicker. Glimmer whimpered. Bow’s eyes snapped up. The tears Glimmer had hid from Adora started to build up and fall down her cheeks. Bow was on his feet in a second, rushing over to Glimmer and putting a firm hand on her shoulder. She let out a raw sob and fell into Bow’s arms. 

“Wh-What do we do?” Glimmer cried into the nape of Bow’s neck.

“We have to... We have to just be there for her,” Bow’s voice was strong and stable, “She has to process it in her own time, she’ll come back to us when she’s ready.”

—

“Adora? Adora!” Catra had searched almost everywhere in the castle, searching for her friend, “Adora! Please, I’m so sorry!”

“C-Catra...” A broken voice came from behind her, she turned to see Adora leaning against the wall weakly. Her eyes were almost closed, the eye bags on her face were deeper than ever. Catra ran up and looked her over for new injuries, before turning to her wrists and looked up at her.

“Did you...?”

“N-No,” Adora was taken aback, “I just went to talk to Bow and Glimmer.” She yanked her arms out from Catra’s grip, eyebrows narrowed as she sent a glare towards Catra.

“Sorry, I just...” Catra looked away, she fucked up... again, “I was just so so worried about you.” Catra hugged Adora tightly. It felt good. Catra was so warm. Adora quickly forgot why she was angry at Catra and sunk into her best friend’s arms. 

When Adora felt her eyes prickle with tears, she dug her nails deep into her palms. She could barely register the pain radiating through her hands. Adora let her head rest on Catra chest. She felt Catra’s heartbeat pulsating against her cheek. Adora breathed in a raspy breath before surging forward to wrap her arms around Catra. Adora hugged her so tight that she thought her grip might leave bruises on her friend. She was so warm and so soft. Had it always been like this, with Catra? Had Adora always felt this warm near her?

Then her pain came flooding back, the pain in her palms and the ache in her head. She groaned and pushed Catra away and grabbed her head.

“Fuck, I completely forgot,” Catra hissed to herself, “Let’s get you back into bed.”

“Fine,” Adora grumbled, “Just don’t say shit like that again.” She hadn’t specified, but Catra immediately knew what she meant and looked down. 

“I’m...” Catra whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” Adora mumbled, moving to give Catra a kiss on the cheek. Her lips had just barely grazed Catra’s cheek when the cat girl turned her head to face Adora’s. Adora’s breath hitched as Catra’s eyes flickered down to the other girls lips. 

Catra’s fingers curled around Adora’s. She could feel the brunettes hot breath against her mouth. Heat rose from Adora’s stomach to her chest, making her heart beat faster. Catra’s face was moving closer. Adora could practically feel her eyelashes flutter against her skin. Catra’s lips parted, her whole body tingling and the way Adora’s arms were wrapped around her suddenly felt forbidden. She was so close. _So close_. Then Catra’s lips brushed over Adora’s with a fiery tease. Eyes jumped from each other’s lips to their eyes, Catra’s heart felt like a ticking time bomb. A small hand grasped the base of Adora’s neck and pulled her in. 

Catra _kissed_ her.

Her mouth was on Adora’s, and she stopped breathing. Her eyes were wide as Catra pulled away soon after. Red was showing through the short fur coating her skin. Adora plunged back in for another kiss, digging her fingers deep into Catra’s mane. A fist knotted into Adora’s top as she was yanked closer. Suddenly, Catra’s lips felt calloused. They felt rough and scarred. 

Adora screamed and pushed the... _person_... away from her. Adora’s eyes were wide and wet. Catra’s heart sunk at the look on her face. Adora’s chest heaved as she looked up at the figure standing over her. _Looming_. She let out a strangled sob.

“No, no, no,” Adora backed up against the wall, “Don’t touch me. You can’t be here... I got out... _W-We got out_.”

Adora thought she was Shadow Weaver.

Realization struck Catra hard. She reached her hand down and Adora looked up at her with large eyes. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Catra leaned down so the moonlight could shine on her face, “It’s just me, ‘Dora.” Adora reached out a trembling hand and grasped Catra’s. Catra pulled her to her feet and dragged her to their room silently. 

Catra sat the girl down on their bed, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes before making Adora lay down. She pulled the blanket over herself without a word and stared at the ceiling. Her breathing was rapid and heartbeat was quick. She quickly fell into a sleep full of nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didn’t know how to attach a picture without imgur so- 
> 
> this is a drawing of the kiss between catra and adora. 
> 
> https://imgur.com/a/Mvxe0y9


	14. time for nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:
> 
> vomit, flashbacks, nightmares

_She could feel Shadow Weaver’s fingers grazing over her, touching her everywhere. Slipping and sliding under her shirt, unbuttoning her jeans, sliding down her underwear, pulling off her sports bra. Adora fought back the urge to vomit and just played along. If she wasn’t good... perfect... Catra would be hurt. She would be disposed of._

_Shadow Weaver placed her hand to the base of her mask and slid it off. Adora’s breath got caught in her throat and tears pricked at the corner of her eyes as Shadow Weaver forced h er scarred lips onto Adora’s. Deep and passionate. It felt violating. It felt so wrong. It was Adora’s first kiss._

_It had been so much more intimate and exposing than so many of the other things stolen from her by Shadow Weaver. But Adora had to kiss back. If she didn’t, she might get Catra hurt. She might get Catra killed. She couldn’t lose Catra. The thought of losing the one good thing in her life made bile rise in her throat._

_As Shadow Weaver’s calloused lips moved over hers, she couldn’t even imagine it was someone else. She felt repulsed by her own lips as the woman in front of her pulled away. A second later, her clothes were strewn across the room. She winced as Shadow Weaver placed her hands on Adora’s hips, gripping tight enough to leave dark bruises. Adora would have to make an excuse for those bruises later. Adora swallowed back a sob and looked up to Shadow Weaver. Adora’s hands trembled as she wound her arms around the sorcerers neck. Run. Get out. Her body was screaming inside. Shadow Weaver lay her palms on Adora’s back, raking her nails down the bare skin there._

_ “If you fail again,” Shadow Weaver’s voice was loud in her ear, “I will kill her.” Adora then berated herself for the mistakes she made in training that very morning. She had been too slow and Catra disarmed her. Catra had won. Adora had been so proud of her, she gave her a huge hug and spun her in the air and kissed her forehead. But then Catra got called into Shadow Weaver’s sanctum. And she left with cuts and bruises and burned fur.  _

_ Catra wouldn’t talk to her. She wouldn’t even let Adora hug her.  _

_ It was all her fault. She was too slow and hadn’t won. She got Catra hurt. And now she had to be good. She had to be perfect. A tear rode down her cheek and Shadow Weaver wiped it up soon after.  _

“ _Keep your little pet in line.”_

_Adora wanted to scream. She wanted to raise her fist and beat Shadow Weaver to a pulp for calling Catra that. But instead, she swallowed down the bile that rose in her throat and spoke._

_ “...Yes, I will, Shadow Weaver.” _

_Shadow Weaver pulled away from the embrace between them, watching Adora with_ _a gentle look on her face, Adora gulped and looked away for a millisecond before taking her abusers hand and placing it on her waist._

_Shadow Weaver’s body language became less imposing, less rigid, “Good girl.”_

Adora woke up with a start, her eyes wide open and staring at the dark wall across from the bed. She stayed frozen in bed. She was alone. She was alone. She sat up quickly, looking around. _Where’s Catra?_ She looked around frantically. Her head spun and bile rose up into her throat. She stood up quickly and almost fell over until her hand met the cold wall to steady herself. The vertigo added to her nausea created a gurgle in her stomach that made her feel like she was going to be sick. 

And then she was. 

She fell to the ground and violently heaved out vomit onto the once-pristine linoleum floor. She sobbed loudly as she finished puking up the dinner from the night before. She silently begged for Catra, hoping, praying, she would walk in and comfort her. She wiped her mouth on her hand before collapsing against the wall, pressing every inch of skin against the incredibly cold wall. It felt so good. She sighed, trying to ignore the stench of her own vomit reaching her nose.

“Are you okay, Adora?” A groggy voice came from the doorway. Adora looked up and saw a thin strip of light fill the room with a gentle glow. 

“C-Catra?” Adora’s voice was trembling and raspy.

Glimmer approached her slowly, looking down and seeing the puddle on the floor, “Oh, Adora...” 

“I’m sorry, Glimmer,” Adora let out in a strangled voice, every syllable burned her throat to say, “I can clean it, I’m so sorry.” She stood up shakily to clean the floor.

“No!” Glimmer exclaimed, “You have to rest, I’ll have someone else clean it.”

“B-But... I made a mess.”

“You’re obviously feeling gross,” Glimmer walked around the vomit and placed her hand firmly on Adora’s shoulder, “And you didn’t mean to throw up.” A tear fell down Adora’s pale skin. She felt so cold. Sweat was coating her clammy face, glistening in the pinkish glow of the Moonstone.

“Let’s get you a shower,” Glimmer helped Adora stand up and lead her to where she had showered just a few days before, “Where’s Catra?”

“I-“ Adora cried silently, “I don’t know... I woke up and she wasn’t there.” Glimmer handed Adora a towel and fresh clothes to wear.

“I’ll find her,” Glimmer smiled gently at the girl in front of her, “Just clean yourself up.” Adora forced a small smile onto her face and nodded.

“T-Thank you, Glim.”

“No problem.”

And then Adora was alone with herself once again.

—

“Catra!” Glimmer was roaming the halls of Bright Moon looking for the cat, “Catra! Where are you?”

A small figure dropped from a beam on the ceiling, landing right in front of Glimmer, “Hey, Sparkles.” She crossed her arms. 

“Finally,” Glimmer huffed, narrowing her eyes, “Where have you been?” 

“Wandering.”

“You should get back to the room before Adora finishes her shower,” Glimmer leaned against the wall, “I don’t exactly know what happened but I checked on her because I heard crying. She was sick on the floor and I helped her to the shower and then called the janitor to clean up.”

Catra’s eyes were wide, “Is she okay?” 

“Yeah, I think, but she seems a bit shaken up.”

“Fuck, I should’ve been there,” Catra got down on all fours and launched herself down the hall to their room.

—

A janitor was trudging out of their room, mop in hand, as Adora ran a shaking hand through her wet hair. She trembled as she sat down on her bed. Catra still hadn’t returned to the room. She probably left here cause of how she reacted after the kiss. Adora’s face burned at the thought of their lips clashing together. She raised her hand to her mouth and gently rubbed the pad of her finger against her bottom lip.

Every cell in her body yearned for Catra to have been her first kiss. But the feeling of lips against hers triggered a memory she hated. Catra’s lips were so soft, and her body was so warm as their skin rubbed together. Shadow Weaver was cold and her skin felt icy and wrong. Her lips were rough and dented from the scars that ripped apart her skin.

The door slammed open, revealing a very disoriented Catra, and suddenly hands were cupping Adora’s face.

“Are you okay? What happened? Was it a flashback? I’m so sorry I wasn’t here,” Catra was rambling, making Adora giggle.

“I’m okay now,” Adora placed her hand over Catra’s, making the cat girl flush a deep scarlet, “I had a... nightmare...”

“Was it about... you-know-who?”

“Yes,” Adora looked towards the floor, “It was a nightmare of when she... kissed me.”

Realization melded into Catra’s face and she looked away from Adora, “When we... uh... you had a flashback during it, didn’t you? You thought it was her?”

“Yeah,” Adora stared hard into the floor, “Your lips... they suddenly felt like hers... and I freaked out... I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, ‘Dora,” Catra pressed their foreheads together, “I thought it was something I did.” Catra teased her, making Adora laugh.

“I’m so tired.”

“Let’s sleep then,” Catra hesitated before kissing the tip of her... _friend’s_... nose, “I’ll stay in bed this time.”

“Thank you, Cat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was really hard to write. i have a pretty bad fear of vomit so i tried to be as vague as i could.
> 
> sorry if the description isn’t good but i just couldn’t bring myself to write more about it.


	15. i hate this chapter but im still posting it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yea trigger warning like always!! flashbacks and she deals with shadow weave in this.

Adora woke up a leg hitched over her hip and a hand resting on her cheek. She fluttered her eyes open and stared at the girl fast asleep in front of her. Adora moved her hand over the girl’s shoulder blades, bunching the fabric of Catra’s shirt tightly in her hand and exhaling deeply. Light shone through the sheer curtain surrounding their bed, a single sunbeam bounced off of Catra’s bottom lip. Adora wanted nothing more than to lean in and capture her in another fiery kiss. 

She would just have to let herself lean a tiny... bit... lower. She felt her nose nudge against Catra’s, she could almost feel her lips. And she wanted to. She reached her hand up and threaded her hand into Catra’s mane. Adora jolted away when she felt Catra shudder from her touch. 

She must be cold, Adora thought to herself, and she began to move the blanket over Catra’s body until it covered up to her chin. Adora giggled and pressed her lips against the short fur on Catra’s forehead, grinning wider when she purred in her sleep. Adora grabbed her hand and intertwined her fingers with Catra’s. A single blue eye fluttered open and gazed up at Adora.

“G’mornin,” Catra slurred out, moving the hand cupped over Adora’s cheek to her back of her head. Adora’s eyes widened as she felt the hand entangle itself in her hair, and for once, she was happy her hair wasn’t in a ponytail. 

‘You look beautiful.’ 

Adora wanted to say it so bad. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a sparkling noise.

“Get outta bed, slowpokes!” 

Adora jolted away from Catra and looked over to see Glimmer and Bow in the center of their room.

“Give us a warning next time,” Catra growled, pulling her hand out from Adora’s hair, “Or at least knock!”

“Sorry,” Glimmer chuckled, “We have some news for you!”

“We’re going to...” Bow began.

“Mystacor!” Glimmer cheered.

“What... is Mystacor?” Catra sat up on the edge of the bed.

“It's a secret floating kingdom that's home to all of Etheria's sorcerers. It's got tranquil gardens, beautiful beaches and healing springs. And my aunt Castaspella just happens to be the head sorceress there.”

“S-Sorcerers?” Adora looked down and twiddled her thumbs, “That sounds... dangerous.” Catra placed her hand on Adora’s shoulder.

“Mystacor is protected by an invisibility spell, so evil can’t find it,” Glimmer sat on the floor in front of their bed, “It’s the safest and most peaceful place on Etheria. You’ll be relaxed in no time.”

Adora scoffed, “I’ve never been relaxed in my entire life.”

“And we’re going to change that.”

—

“Are we there yet?” Catra had been complaining throughout the entire walk to Mystacor, only stopping to whisper into Adora’s ear or to nuzzle her head against her friend’s neck. 

Everyone ignored Catra’s complaint as they approached the edge of a cliff, “We’re here!”

“Okay, are you seeing something I’m not?” Catra grumbled, “Because that is a cliff, overlooking a thousand foot drop.”

Glimmer gave the two newbies a large grin, a charmingly stupid wink and grabbed Bow’s arm, “Not for long!” The two of them jumped off the cliff and fell through the clouds below. The other two followed soon after. 

The next half hour was an absolute clusterfuck. Castaspella had been... a lot. Catra had to restrain herself so she didn’t scratch the woman’s eye out. 

Catra looked to her left to see that Adora had disappeared, “Adora?” Her eyes flickered around the room frantically before landing on a figure running into a large hallway. 

“Well, someone is enthusiastic!” Casta lead the rest of the group after Adora, “Ah, yes. The hall of sorcerers. These are the Great Ones that led Mystacor through the ages.” 

Adora was trembling as she ran back to Catra’s side, clinging on for dear life. 

“Are you okay?” Catra whispered, “What happened?”

“S-Shadow Weaver,” Adora’s breath was staggered, “I saw her.”

Catra’s eyes widened, “There’s no way she could be here, ‘Dora, there’s a protection spell around Mystacor.”

“You know what she’s capable of, Cat,” Adora stammered before looking away from her friend, “I-I’m probably just seeing things.” Catra rubbed her thumb across Adora’s hand before letting go and walking behind the group as they observed the hall of sorcerers. Catra felt the fur on the back of her neck stand up straight when her eyes landed on a statue that looked oddly familiar.

“What happened to her?” Catra pointed at the destroyed statue. Adora felt her body grow cold when her eyes locked on the stone figure. 

Casta shook her head sadly, “Light Spinner. A scar on Mystacor's past. She sought power and control above all else, and she was cast out. Although, some say she never really left. That she's only biding her time, waiting to exact her revenge. But those are only children's tales, of course. Anyway, on with the tour. Are you hungry? I've had the dinning room redone since the last time you were here, Glimmer.” Adora was frozen as the rest of the group followed after Castaspella. 

Adora stared up unmovingly at the statue with wide eyes. Why was it so familiar to her?

There was hissing noise from behind her, making her whip around. She screamed as she came face to face with a tall dark figure with blood red eyes. 

“Adora...” 

”No, no, no,” Adora raised her arms over her face and backed into the wall, “D-Don’t come near me.” She collapsed to her knees and cried out.

“...ra.”

“...dora.”

“...Adora!”

Adora peeked over her arms to see Bow, Glimmer, and Catra staring at her with concern. She lower her arms and swallowed thickly.

“It’s worse than I thought,” Glimmer mumbled, “You need to relax, stat.” Adora winced as though she was hit as Catra outstretched her arm to pull Adora to her feet. 

—

“So... uh... we just lie here?” Adora’s voice was still wavering from the incident earlier.

“Absolutely. Letting your cares melt away. Didn't you do something like this to relax in the woods?”

“Uh, no. I hit things.”

“Well, this is much better!” 

Adora looked to Catra to see she had already begun to nap on her towel.

“Just try it,” Glimmer gave her a kind smile, “Okay?”

“Okay.”

—

After a few minutes of Adora staring blankly at the sky, Glimmer looked over.

“This isn’t working, is it?”

“No, can I move now?”

“Yes,” Glimmer sighed, “Clearly we're going to have to take this relaxation thing to the next level. Bow,” she clapped her hands twice, “wake up.”

Bow shot up and wiped drool off his chin, “Huh?”

“Come on. We need to show Adora the steam grotto.” 

“Woooohooo! Steam grotto!”

Adora looked over at Catra and shook her friend awake, “C’mon, Cat, we’re trying something new.”

“Ah, how fun,” Catra grumbled, stretching her arms out in front of her before standing up.

—

“Woah,” Adora was slack jawed at the beautiful room in front of her, “It’s so...”

“Beautiful.”

Catra finished her sentence for her. 

“Right?” Bow tip toed into one of the grottos before settling into the warm water with a sigh.

“D-Do I have to go in?” Catra backed away, fur standing on end.

“No,” Adora spoke before Glimmer could get any words out, “Just sit outside the tub.”

“Thank you,” Catra kissed Adora’s nose before helping Adora into the grotto. Catra’s chest ached as she watched Glimmer slide in next to Adora and take her hand.

“These pools are full of magical healing minerals. The sorcerers use them to cleanse themselves of worry and fear before big ceremonies or spells,” Glimmer had rested her head against Adora’s chest now, “Now just clear your mind. Breathe deeply. Focus on the warmth on your skin. Let your body go perfectly...”

— 

Catra was awoken with a start. Adora was screaming and crying for help.

“Adora?” Catra was panicking, she couldn’t see anything in this misty fog blocking her vision, “Adora!”

“Catra!”

Catra followed the voice to a far away corner in the steam grotto. Adora had her sword pointed out in front of her.

“You brought your sword in here?” 

Catra didn’t wait for an answer. Arms wrapped Adora up into a tight hug. Tears soaked into Catra’s shirt but she couldn’t care less.

“S-Shadow Weaver was here. In the grotto. And she was in in the sorcerers hall too. I saw her shadow on the floor.”

“Adora, there’s no way Shadow Weaver is here,” Catra cupped Adora’s cheeks in her hands, “It’s not possible.” Adora leaned into Catra’s touch with a silent sob. 

Glimmer appeared next to the pair and leaned down next to them, “What happened?”

“Shadow Weaver,” Adora voice was strangled, “I-I saw her.”

“Adora, there’s no one else here. You’re safe. You got away from her. Do you wanna try something else? We could get massages, or find you something to hit, if that would work better.”

“No. It's okay. I'm okay. I think I need to be alone. Clear my head,” Adora looked Catra in the eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Adora looked away, “I’ll just go and get some rest somewhere. I’m probably... just... tired.” Catra slowly retracted her hands from Adora’s face and walked out with Bow and Glimmer following closely behind her.

She heard Catra’s voice carry from outside, “Adora has finally lost it. Did you see her in there? I think she's going nuts.” Adora’s eyes widened and she stood up abruptly.

“I’m not crazy!” Adora yelled, before realizing no one was there, “I’m... I’m not crazy.”

Needless to say, Adora hadn’t been just tired. She had to face Shadow Weaver. She had to feel those cold hands on her skin once again. She still could feel the imprint of Shadow Weaver’s icy palm against her cheek.

The Princesses don't care about you. They want to use you for your strength. Return now to the Fright Zone. Rule by my side. Hasn’t this little game gone on long enough?

Adora cried silently on the floor of her bedroom. 

You were nothing before I took you in, Adora. And you will be nothing without me! You're weak!

She had been replaying every word Shadow Weaver spoke to her that day.

Adora, enough of this. Come home.

It had been years and Shadow Weaver still sought after her. The people of Mystacor had praised her. They praised her for almost destroying their home. They praised her for almost getting them killed. It was all her fault. 

Adora looked up to Catra, who was snoring gently in their bed. And she decided right then, she wasn’t going to let herself bring Catra down as well. As much as she wanted to be close to her and kiss her, she couldn’t do that without somehow hurting her. 

Adora lay down on the cold floor and closed her eyes. A shaky sigh left her before falling into a dark and gloomy dream.

—

Catra woke up to a cold bed. A cold, empty bed. 

“A-Adora?” Her heart began to race. She checked under the bed. Maybe she fell off again? She does tend to sleep fight, falling off the bed was just another regular occurrence during their time in the Horde. 

Catra’s eyes frantically searched the room before they locked in on their target. Adora was asleep across the room, laying on the ground with nothing but her signature red jacket being used as a pillow. Catra pounced down next to her and started to paw at her arm. Adora’s skin was cold. She must have slept here all night. Catra lifted the blonde off the ground slowly, grunting as she dragged her over to their bed. She shoved Adora under a large blanket and slid in next to her. Catra pressed an open palm against Adora’s clammy face and ran her thumb across her cheekbone. 

She felt Adora grumble in her sleep and shift slightly. Catra squeaked in surprise before nuzzling in as she felt a large hand rest on her waist and pull her closer. A purr tumbled out of her throat before she could stop it. Catra wondered what the blonde was dreaming about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m really not proud of my writing in this chapter. princess prom is soon though!


	16. princess prom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo yo another shit chapter! sorry if this one is bad, i wrote it during school and then my partner dumped me and it’s kinda a crazy day- there’s still some cute fluff in this tho!!

“Uh, hey, guys, I got an invitation to the All Princess Ball, Winter Wonderland. Do you know what this is?”

Bow gasped and yanked Glimmer’s arm so she stood up, “Princess Prom! Princess Prom! Princess Prom! We are going to Princess Prom!” 

Catra snorted, “Yeah okay, you’ve both gone absolutely insane, we’ll come back later.” 

Glimmer grasped onto Adora’s arm and pulled her into the room, “The ball is a meeting for all the princesses of Etheria! I’m surprised my mom hasn’t given me my invitation yet!”

“It’s also a giant party! You like parties, right? Dancing, food, fancy clothes,” Bow plopped down on the couch in Glimmer’s bedroom. 

“Uh, dancing?” Adora gulped.

“It only happens once a decade. I've been waiting years for this!” Glimmer cheered, ignoring Adora’s comment.

Adora’s heart was thumping against her rib cage, “Uh, I'm only a princess sometimes, so... are you sure I should even go?”

“Of course, Adora! Every princess is invited, and that includes you.”

“Yeah, it’s all written in the invite,” Bow unraveled the yard long scroll and shoved it back towards Adora.

“Rules for greeting the hostess,” Catra snorted as she read further down the scroll, “Expected curtsy depth? Proper stair descending etiquette? What the hell is this?”

“The ball has been going on for centuries,” Bow explained, “There's a lot of etiquette stuff you gotta do before you can party.”

Glimmer squealed, “It's gonna be so much fun! And Princess Frosta is hosting it this year in the Kingdom of Snows! Her magic is incredibly powerful. She'd be a huge get for The Rebellion!”

Adora whimpered and hid her face behind the invitation.

“Don’t worry, Adora! Bow and I will be with you the entire time.”

“Arrow boy is a princess?” Catra teased, “I wondered why you were always here.”

Bow stammered, “Catra!”

“No, Bow wasn’t invited,” Glimmer crossed her arms, “But, he’s going as my plus one, all the princesses get a plus one.”

“Uh...” Bow scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “Actually-“

Adora fidgeted before turning to Catra, “You’re going with me, right?” 

“I will, but you better go all out for me, ‘Dora,” Catra’s tail wrapped around Adora’s waist, “I expect flowers, chocolates, matching outfits...”

Adora nodded curtly and began to plan strategically in her head, “Okay.”

Adora was pulled from her thoughts as she felt a firm hand grasp her upper arm. “I‘m just teasing, dummy. I’m obviously going as your plus one.” Adora smiled shyly and tore her eyes away from Catra. 

“It's the best friend squad in action! Right Bow?”

“Yeah... about that... I'm going with Perfuma.”

“What?!”

—

“Adora,” Catra leaned against the doorframe, eyes narrowing as she watched her friend connect yarn, “Adora... What are you doing?”

“Catra! Great. No time to waste!” Adora grabbed Catra and dragged her into their room, “I think advance prep will be key to success. I've divided the rules into base parts. Dance rules, etiquette rules, rules for greeting the hostess. I'm familiarizing myself with targets. Ask me anything.”

“Uhh...” Catra looked down to the flash cards that Adora had shoved into her hands, “Princess... Frosta...”

“Ruler of The Kingdom of Snows, has the biggest kingdom outside of Bright Moon, neutral in the fight against the Horde. Allies with the Star Sisters who are friends with Mermista, but not Sweet Bee who is dating Peekablue as you can tell by the string. Up means friends, down means frenemies. And I made an obstacle course! I'm feeling good! I'm prepared for any and all scenarios. I am so ready for this ball.”

“Great!” 

Adora’s eyes locked on the girl who had suddenly appeared in the room.

“What are you wearing?”

“I was just gonna go as She-Ra,” Adora ran a hand through her dry hair, “I mean, she has better hair.”

“Well, you can't go as She-Ra. They have a strict no weapons rule. Neutral ground and all. So, you'll have to leave your sword at the door.”

“Well... can’t I just transform and leave the sword behind?” Adora pleaded.

“No, sorry,” Glimmer sat next to Catra, “She-Ra is technically a weapon because of her enhanced power and all the armor.”

“Ugh,” Adora groaned, “how are there still more parts to this invite?” 

Glimmer gasped, “Do you know what this means?”

“Uh... that clothes don’t matter and I should just keep studying?”

“It’s makeover time!”

—

Adora hated this. The clothes were frilly and pink and just... didn’t fit her. 

Glimmer had Bow whisk Catra away with him to pick out an outfit for her, so Adora was alone. 

“How about this dress?” 

Adora groaned and turned away from her studying, “Another one? Really?” Her eyes locked on the knee length red dress, “Oh... that one is actually... not that bad.” She tore herself away from her work and walked over. She ran a hand over the fabric. 

“Do you want to try it on?” Glimmer said giddily, shoving the dress towards her friend, “It also has a gold belt that I can give you if you want.” 

“Oh,” Adora held the dress up in front of her, “Can you... leave the room... while I change?”

“Of course!” 

—

Adora felt... pretty? 

And Catra thought she was as well. She had almost swallowed her tongue when her friend walked into the room. Her eyes scanned the stunning red dress Adora wore - she should really remember to thank Glimmer for blessing Catra’s eyes like this - and grinned at how they were matching. Bow and Glimmer must have planned that. Her tail waved back and forth as she stumbled towards Adora. 

“Wow,” Catra could barely get words out. She didn’t know if she could ever speak again. Adora felt her face burn a bright red and she began to fiddle with the hilt of her sword. 

“Pretty!” Adora blurted out.

“Huh?” Catra’s eyes widened and her eyes narrowed in a confused look.

“You look... uh... pretty,” Adora attempted to cover her face, “Wow, it’s suddenly really hot in here.” She began to fan her face with her hand as she began to grow more and more flushed.

“Weirdo,” Catra teased and grabbed Adora’s hand, “You also look really pretty, ‘Dora.” She noticed how her voice grew softer.

“You’ll... stay close to me... tonight... right?” Adora fought to get out. She wanted to keep Catra at arms length all night. Despite the guilt she felt in her chest every time Catra touched her, she always wished to be closer to her friend. She wanted to hold her and kiss her. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t pull Catra into her darkness. 

“Of course,” Catra bumped her hip against Adora’s as she walked towards the door, “We can dance stupidly, pig out on fancy food, and just have fun...” Catra cupped Adora’s face in her hands, “together.”

“That sounds...” Adora felt herself melt into her friends touch, “Perfect.”

—

The Kingdom of Snows was freezing. Adora was latched onto Catra, who was practically a living furnace, as they walked into the castle. Though, the inside was oddly warm, but Adora still stayed glued to her friends side. The trio walked up to a stand with a butler. 

“There are no weapons allowed inside the All-Princess Ball,” His voice was monotonous, “We will hold any and all weapons until the end of the ball.”

Adora glanced down to the sword in her hands and held it out to the butler with trembling hands.

“Please... be careful and d-don’t just lean it somewhere and don't keep it with the other swords or it might get confused!” 

“Adora! C’mon!” Glimmer yanked on Adora’s arm. 

Catra cackled with laughter as Glimmer finally managed to pull Adora away from her sword. 

“That’s... Princess Frosta?”

Catra followed Adora’s gaze to a small child sitting in a huge ice throne - must be cold - Princess Frosta looked way too young to be hosting a ball. As two of them approached the throne, Adora could feel her heart rate race. She quickly threw herself into a bow.

One, two, three...

She stood up straight and gave the child a smile before clasping her hands on Catra’s arm and bolting into the ballroom. 

“That was stressful,” Adora sighed, finally relaxing as she felt Catra’s tail wrap around her waist soothingly, “Cat, I think I spy some new foods we’ve never seen before.”

Catra’s pupils dilated with excitement.

“C’mon!” Adora pulled her friend towards the assortment of finger foods and piled some onto a small plate, “Glimmer!” She turned around to look for the princess.

“Hmm,” Catra looked as well, “Maybe she went to find Bo-“

Strong arms suddenly lifted the two friends up into a tight, cradling embrace.

“Urg-“ Adora could barely breathe.

“You’re alive!” 

They dropped to the floor and looked up to see a familiar face.

“Scorpia?” Catra gawked, “What are you doing at Princess Prom?”

“I’m a princess.”

Catra snorted, “You’re a princess?”

“Seriously!?” Adora chimed in.

“Uh... yeah!” Scorpia helped the two of them off the ground before speaking again, “The Horde crash landed in my family’s kingdom. We let them stay. My family gave Hordak my runestone, the Black Garnet... Man, I thought everyone knew!”

Catra and Adora glanced at each other.

“Well, you guys — You guys look amazing!” Scorpia fawned over them, “Wow, I really thought you two were goners! You up and left one day. No one ever brought you up! For a while I thought I just imagined you.”

“Yeah,” Adora laughed anxiously and rubbed the back of her neck, “We defected.”

“Whoa,” Scorpia covered her mouth with a huge red pincer, “Oh hey! I see my plus one over there, I better save them before they end up breaking someone’s nose again... Royal! Roy!” Scorpia ran over to the other side of the room and began to chat with a short figure with purple hair.

“Wow, she’s still...” Catra began.

“A lot.” Adora finished. Catra took her hand and headbutted her arm, purring so loudly that Adora could almost hear it over the loud music and chatter. 

“Wanna dance?” Catra stood up straight and held her hand out.

“Wha-?” 

Adora was yanked toward the dance floor anyway. 

“Hand against mine,” Catra ordered, “Keep your eyes on me,” well, that shouldn’t be very hard, “Follow my lead.”

“Oh,” Adora mumbled, “Oh, this is actually kind of — fun!” A bright grin spread across her face. The music spun around the two of them. Catra watched as the pink light illuminated Adora’s face perfectly, her ponytail flew behind her and bounced with each movement. 

“See, told you that we would have fun,” Catra leaned her head against Adora’s chest and suddenly dipped her. And then she yelped, feeling Catra’s grip holding her close. Adora felt her body tingle happily as she was spun up onto her feet. Catra gave her a smug look, it was almost seductive, and Catra was then pulled close to Adora’s chest and held there. 

The song ended.

Adora frowned and she looked down at Catra as she wound her arms around Adora’s neck. 

“Another song is coming on soon,” Catra purred, “Do you want to keep dancing?” 

Adora gulped, trying time fight the feeling nagging in the back of her brain. She wanted this as badly as she needed to breathe. And so she gave in, nudging her nose against Catra’s. 

“Definitely,” Adora wrapped her arms around Catra’s waist and pulled her in closer as a slower song began to play.


	17. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve run out of pre written chapters so chapters will be released less often. sorry for the short chapter!

Adora awoke in the middle of the night from a rather intense nightmare. She’s been having nightmares every day since Princess Prom, and she rarely slept anymore. She was so tired, but there wasn’t any point in trying to sleep now. She would just fall into another nightmare. She lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling, her head swirling. 

“Adora,” A slurred voice broke her out of her thoughts, “Why are you sleeping all the way over there?” Adora felt a warm hand grab her arm and pull her close. She shuddered as the hand traced over her hipbone and then wrapped around her waist. Catra opened her eyes, her eyes took only a second to adjust to the darkness, and she cupped her hand over Adora’s cheek. Adora’s breath got caught in her throat as Catra’s hand pulled her face closer. 

Wow, her lips look really soft. Adora was trying her hardest not to glance down at them, but couldn’t help it. Adora snapped back to reality, turning away from Catra and shutting her out. 

—

“Guys, I’m telling you,” Catra had been ranting to Bow and Glimmer, “Something’s up with Adora.”

“She seemed normal at Princess Prom,” Glimmer leaned back in her chair.

“No! I tried to... hug her and she completely ignored it and turned around!” Catra slammed a hand onto the table in front of her, “She never does that!”

“Are you sure she wasn’t just tired or something?”

“I know Adora,” Catra hissed, “It’s not like her to just push me away.”

“Well maybe she-“

“Oh! Hey Adora.” Bow interrupted loudly, giving Glimmer wide eyes to get her to shut up.

“Huh? Yeah! That’s me,” Adora stammered, avoiding Catra’s gaze. 

“Dummy,” Catra tried teasing, but Adora just flickered her eyes over.

“Any Horde activity?” Adora was desperate to let out some steam, preferably towards some Horde soldiers or some bots.

“No,” Glimmer and Bow had been looking at the tracker pad every hour of the day, “They’ve been oddly quiet. No bots have been deployed and no soldiers have left the Fright Zone.”

That unnerved Adora. Usually at least one civilian town was being attacked. But they hadn’t seen active duty in weeks. The Brightmoon gym had been getting old, and Adora’s fists were bruised and bloody from punching trees in the Whispering Woods again. 

—

Scorpia was wandering the deepest part of the Fright Zone when she heard a beep come from her tracker pad. She pulled out the device, squinting at it through the darkness. The Fright Zone was always dark. But it was Scorpia’s home, or at least, it was all she knew. 

“We really need some new tech,” Scorpia chuckled for herself before seeing that her friend was calling her.

“Scorpia,” They greeted.

“Hey, Roy!” Scorpia sat on a metal bar near her, “Any news?”

“Shadow Weaver’s sending me and a few soldiers out to capture the princess from Brightmoon,” Royal flopped down on their bed, “Said I could bring a Force Captain from another squadron, what do you say, Scorp?”

“Obviously! Wow! We could make a day out of this! How fun would that be?”

“Let’s keep it simple, Scorp,” Royal practically purred, their hand brushed through their curly mullet, “I’m sure you know Princess Glimmer.” 

“I mean - not personally! But I did see her while we were at Princess Prom.”

“Speaking of Princess Prom,” Roy’s eyes narrowed, their pupils becoming slits, “What happened? Why didn’t the heat bombs get set off? Shadow Weaver was mad.”

“Oh,” Scorpia lifted a claw to scratch the back of her neck. She hadn’t deployed the bombs in the ice castle, she didn’t want to hurt Catra or Adora, but she couldn’t tell Royal that, “Y’know, they must’ve failed.” 

“Mmmhmm, and you tell me if that were false, yes?” 

“Of course, Roy, you’re my bestie!” 

“I hope so, Scorp,” Royal hovered their finger over the hang up button, “I’m going to send you my location, head there and then we can head to Brightmoon.”

—

“Hey, Adora,” Catra purred, swishing her tail in Adora’s face before plopping down on the couch next to her.

“Catra,” Adora mumbled, shoving her face in the book she had in her hands.

“Whatcha reading?”

“I don’t really know,” Adora peeked out from behind the pages, “Some kinda book that Glimmer thought I’d like.” Catra sighed, throwing her legs over Adora’s lap and laying down. Adora gulped, standing up and putting the book away, “I’m gonna... take a shower.” 

Catra reached her hand over and grabbed Adora’s wrist, “Adora, what’s... what did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything,” She was taken aback. Adora was the one who was ruining everything, she was the one who was bringing danger everywhere she went. Why did Catra think she did anything?

“You keep blowing me off,” Catra shifted so her hand slid down to Adora’s and she intertwined their fingers, “Whenever I try to touch you, you move away. It’s been happening ever since Princess Prom.”

“I just...” Adora stammered. 

The heat from Catra’s fingers creeped into Adora slowly and she never wanted to pull her hand away. It felt like an invasion. The warmth filled Adora, calmed Adora. After a minute, the feeling grew too strong and Adora yanked her fingers back. She couldn’t. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t pull Catra down with her.

“Adora...?” 

“I can’t,” Adora’s voice was strangled, “We shouldn’t be this close, it’s... not safe.”

Adora bit her lip hard, eyes looking everywhere but the girl sitting in front of her. Then Catra moves closer with those mismatched eyes that made Adora breathless every time, "Hey, ‘Dora, it's... it’s just me." 

Adora finally locked her eyes onto Catra’s, her breathing became gentler. She stared at Adora in an odd way, pupils dilating as she sighed. Catra reaches her hand out again, and Adora took it reluctantly.

Adora observed her friend. Watched how her mane of hair was tumbling down her back in thick locks. Her grip on Adora’s hand was so firm yet so comforting and gentle. And her lips… oh, how she wanted to kiss those lips again. She leaned in, so her foreheads rested against the other girl’s.

“I...” Adora began, but she didn’t know what to say, “I... I just...”

Just a moment later, Catra had slammed her lips slammed onto Adora’s, nearly knocking all the air from her lungs. She could barely react as Catra pulled the taller girl down and on top of her. Adora splayed her palm on Catra’s chest, intending to push her away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

Their lips parted as Catra realized Adora hadn’t kissed back, “I’m so sorry, I just... I didn’t mean to, I just went for it and-“

Adora leaned closer, nudging her nose against Catra’s. Their breaths mingled together. Her heart fluttered as their lips brushed together delicately. This time, Catra was the one to push her away.

“Okay, what the hell, Adora?” Catra groaned, tangling a hand in her hair, “You don’t need to pretend you like me that way.”

“What?” Adora stumbled backwards as Catra pushed her, “Catra, I-I don’t understand.” She felt overwhelmed. Catra was obviously angry at her. But for what? Adora didn’t know.

“It isn’t fair,” Catra was fighting back tears, “It’s one thing to lead me on by kissing me, but you’re just confusing me so much.” 

“What are you talking about?” Adora stepped back as Catra advanced towards her.

“I’m talking about how you hug me and almost kiss me and then the next day you’re... you’re just shut down! What hell do you want from me, Adora?”

“I...” Adora didn’t know how to answer that. No one asked her what she wanted. Ever. She knew what she wanted. But she couldn’t have it without getting Catra hurt.

“If you ever figure that out, I’ll be here.”


End file.
